Rose McGowan's cult upbringing not 'strange'

Rose McGowan has spoken out about growing up in the Children of God sect, but insists her upbringing wasn't ''strange''.

Rose McGowan insists growing up in a cult wasn't a "strange existence".

The 38-year-old actress spent the first nine years of her life as part of the Children of God sect in the Italian countryside but she insists her upbringing was not as unusual as other people's seems to her.

She said: "There are people who will read this story and think I had a strange existence. I think they've had a strange existence."

The 'Conan the Barbarian' actress says her early years were "really idyllic" but she never felt she belonged in the sect because she didn't want to be subservient to men.

She explained to People magazine: "I've always been who I am. I did not want to be like those women. There were basically there to serve the men sexually."

Rose's family left the sect when her father began to fear his daughter was at risk of being molested.

She said: "My dad was strong enough to realise that this hippie love had gone south."

The family then moved to America, but the actress admits the shift into mainstream society was difficult.

She said: "It was not an easy assimilation. My brothers and sisters, we thought everyone was boring."