The 34-year-old actress - who was brought up only by her mother, who fell pregnant when she was just 18 years old - was singled out by her peers and bullied over her "nerdy" ways.

She said: "I hated school. I didn`t want to go to school.

"I don`t know why I was bullied. I was quite shy and skinny. Very nerdy and very bookwormish. I think I was just a target."

The `First Grader` star went on to study social and political science at Britain`s prestigious Cambridge University but cried "every day" because she hated the experience so much.

She admitted in an interview with the Independent newspaper: "I felt so lonely. There was only one other black person in my year. I cried every day."

Despite her problems growing up, Naomie was never tempted to go off the rails.

She said: "I never felt the need to. It`s funny. My brother and sister are the same. They`re like, `Why would you do that?`

"None of us, as a family, drink. None of us smoke. We`re not brought up with it. To us, it seems a bit strange why people would want to do those things."
sections: Celebrities