Lena Headey Rips Hollywood for Protecting ‘Predatory Men,’ Says Toxic “Game of Thrones” Fans Got Mad She Didn’t Go Nude: ‘I Was Shocked by the Anger’

The ‘Game of Thrones’ star recalled fans’ outrage after she used a body double for Cersei Lannister’s infamous walk of shame

NEED TO KNOW

• Lena Headey said Hollywood has long protected “predatory men” and reflected on feeling unsafe filming intimate scenes early in her career
• The Game of Thrones star said she was “really shocked by the anger” from fans after using a body double for Cersei Lannister’s infamous season 5 walk of shame
• Headey discussed the inspiration behind her new BBC radio drama, Intimacy, in an interview with The Telegraph

Lena Headey is reflecting on what she says has long been one of Hollywood’s biggest problems.

The actress discussed her new BBC radio drama, Intimacy, which she wrote and stars in, during an interview with The Telegraph published July 16. The show’s story follows an intimacy coordinator who lands a job on a major film only to discover the director is the same man who raped her years earlier.

Headey said the project draws from experiences she witnessed throughout her career, including filming sensitive scenes before intimacy coordinators became commonplace.

“Oh, even today you can still be on set where no one really cares [about the actors],” Headey told the outlet. “You can be doing a nude scene and someone will say, ‘Okay, put this large lumpy mat against your groin’. But I’m in my 50s now and I feel more in control. It’s a different game.”

The actress said expectations were different when she first entered the industry.

“When I started out there was this rite of passage all young female actors had to go through, which usually involved snogging and falling in love, and having sex and showing your boobs,” she said. “They’d call them the ingenue parts, to make it sound nicer.”

Looking back, Headey said she often accepted situations without questioning whether she was being protected because she was grateful to have work.

“I just got on with it,” she said to The Telegraph. “I didn’t go to drama school so I would just arrive on a set and be, ‘Oh my God, I’ve got a job.’ And when it came to those moments, I don’t think I even questioned that I should be safe. Instead I’d go home and cry, or think, ‘Oh, that felt weird and too familiar.’ Now I look back and feel, ‘Hmm, that was rough.’”

Headey, 52, also revisited her previous allegations against former Miramax producer Harvey Weinstein. In 2017, she publicly accused Weinstein of making suggestive comments to her at the Venice Film Festival in 2005 and later attempting to lure her to a hotel room under the pretense of discussing a script. She alleged she resisted his advances and later wondered whether doing so affected her career.

Headey previously said Weinstein allegedly told her, “Don’t tell anyone about this, not your manager, not your agent,” after the encounter, adding, “I got into my car and cried.” 

Asked how she feels about Weinstein now, Headey said her frustration extends beyond one individual.

“The weird protection that we offer predatory men in the business, because of the disproportionate power they wield set against the need among vulnerable actresses to work to put food on the table to get the job — it makes me very angry,” she told the outlet. “A job can be completely soured by one person who, for some reason, is allowed to get away with it.”

She added that the #MeToo movement changed how many people viewed the industry.

“It was only when the #MeToo movement erupted [in 2017] that we realized — oh, this is everywhere,” she said.

Headey contrasted those experiences with what she sees among younger actresses today.

“I think most young women I speak to now in this business are so savvy,” she said. “The attitude today is, ‘I’m not f—ing doing that.’”

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Speaking about her time on HBO’s Game of Thrones, which later became known for its numerous nude scenes. Headey, who played Cersei Lannister throughout the series, said she felt more confident advocating for herself than some of her younger castmates because of her experience.

“No, because by that point I’d been through the wringer,” she said when asked whether she shared the discomfort other actresses later described. “I could stand up for myself. I’m not saying those actresses couldn’t, but they were much younger and more vulnerable, and had far less experience of being in front of people and the camera and performing.”

Headey famously opted to use a body double during Cersei’s season 5 walk of shame, a decision that sparked criticism from some viewers after it became public in 2017.

“I was really shocked by the anger, by this idea that I’d duped the audience,” she said. “But by that point everyone knew [the cast], it was insane simply going anywhere, and I was with 3000 extras.”

Headey later reflected on the lasting impact of Game of Thrones, which became HBO’s most-watched series and earned 160 Emmy nominations before concluding in 2019. Although she said the role opened doors, she doesn’t believe it permanently transformed her career.

“Thrones was mega, and I don’t think anyone expected it, but thankfully it wasn’t my first job, so it didn’t make me nuts,” she told The Telegraph. “You might think that [it would have] but I’ve been knocking on doors for years now.”

Instead, Headey said she’s focused on developing projects that tell stories centered on women.

“The joy of getting older is that it’s not about being a thing for somebody else,” she said. “Instead you just want to do the thing for you and for other women. Such as tell the sorts of stories that women want to hear.”

Headey’s new BBC radio drama, Intimacy, is available to stream through BBC Sounds.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.

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