Rose McGowan says she believes Hollywood is a 'cult' she should have escaped 'sooner'

Rose McGowan says she wishes she left Hollywood a long time ago.

The former "Charmed" star, 46, has spent the last couple of weeks voicing support for Joe Biden's sexual assault accuser Tara Reade. This week, however, the activist is opening up about her debut album and how music has served as a nice departure from the acting industry.

Speaking with Yahoo, McGowan said her debut album "Planet 9" has helped to "soothe" past traumas. The star is a former victim of disgraced movie mogul and convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein. She also suggests she was a victim of Hollywood as a whole and explains why she ditched acting.

“It was my day job. I acquitted myself very well, but it wasn't the love of my life,” McGowan told the outlet about her former life spent on sets and in front of cameras. “I refused to give up who I was forever just to stay in a [Hollywood] system that I fundamentally disagree with, that I think is a cult. And then I get blacklisted after being sexually assaulted, and then what job are you doing to do? Then it was like taking the dregs and scraping the bottom of the barrel trying to get what [roles] I could. That's just a crap way to live. And it's not artistically where I live.”

Speaking of art, McGowan's debut album "Planet 9" has served as a kind of escape for her, she said.

"I knew if I could make music that helped soothe my trauma and made me feel like I was in a better place while being on Earth dealing with all these people, these monsters, then I know it would work on other people," she said.

McGowan admitted that she was miserable during her time on "Charmed" despite so many assuming she had it all.

"I was a fringe person, and lonely as hell. I was very famous for being on TV; I was famous for not being me," McGowan continued. "It's a weird situation."

McGowan confirmed that she does regret acting as that's what led to her meeting Weinstein. But she says suffering through the harrowing experience of being assaulted feels like something she wouldn't have been able to escape.

"I think it was always going to be that way. Weirdly enough, my whole life, I was deathly afraid of being sexually assaulted, as I think most women are. It's just a common [fear], the guy coming in at night with a mask on his face. That's terrifying," McGowan said. "It's the Boogieman. But our ‘Boogieman’ is usually someone we know, even if it's just at a breakfast meeting, in my case, at 10 in the morning.

"I wish I had gotten out of Hollywood sooner," she concluded.

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