Sienna Miller was surprised her relationship with the paparazzi turned sour - because she found the attention "really exciting" when she first shot to fame.
The blonde Brit quickly became a tabloid favourite when her relationship with actor Jude Law went public in 2004.
Miller admits she relished the attention she suddenly received from the press and photographers, especially when she walked down the red carpet with her mum for the first time.
She insists she felt she could deal with the pressures of intense media scrutiny - because she was "intoxicated" by her love for hunk Law.
She tells GQ magazine, "It was literally one day to the next. One day I was anonymous, the next day people were outside my flat. It was quite intense but initially it didn't feel aggressive or scary. And I was so in love.
"It was the first time I'd been crazy in love like that, just intoxicated by it, so really every experience I was having at that time was wonderful. It was a complete whirlwind, the most exciting time of my life.
"When you're going to your first premiere and there are photographers and a red carpet and your mum's there, it's really exciting. Anyone who says it isn't is lying. But then it all changed."
Miller was forced to take a legal action against a photo agency in 2008 after they breached privacy rules by snapping her topless on a secluded beach with her married former beau Balthazar Getty.
And the star insists that was a turning point in her life as a celebrity: "I'm the first person to sue and win against the paparazzi on harassment charges. It's absolutely changed my life.
"I didn't want to shut down and hide myself away. I didn't want security, I didn't want a driver, I just wanted a normal life, but I felt myself being pushed to a place where I felt afraid. Constantly."
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