Lena Headey

Dredd

**Lena Kathren Headey** (/ˈliːnə ˈhiːdi/ *LEE-nə HEE-dee*; born 3 October 1973)[2] is an English actress from Yorkshire. She is best known for her portrayal of Cersei Lannister on the HBO epic drama series *Game of Thrones* (2011–present), for which she has received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations and a Golden Globe nomination.

Headey made her big screen debut in *Waterland*
 (1992), and continued to work steadily in British films and on
television throughout the decade, before finding fame with her lead
performances in *The Brothers Grimm* (2005) and *300* (2007). Her other film credits include *The Remains of the Day* (1993), *The Jungle Book* (1994), *Mrs Dalloway* (1997), *The Parole Officer* (2001), *Ripley's Game* (2002), *Dredd* (2012) *The Purge* (2013), and *300: Rise of an Empire* (2014). She played Sarah Connor in the spin-off series *Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles* (2008–2009).

Headey has provided voices for the role-playing video game *Risen* (2009) and the video game tie-in film *Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV* (2016), as well as the animated series *Danger Mouse* (2015–17) and *Trollhunters* (2017–18).

## Early Life

Headey was born in Hamilton, Bermuda, to English parents, Sue and John Headey.[2] Her father, a Yorkshire police officer, was stationed there at the time. She has one younger brother, Tim.[3] The family moved to Somerset when she was five, and then to Highburton, near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, when Headey was 11.[4] As a child, she took ballet lessons, before being told to stop.[5]

Headey had her first experience of acting when she was a pupil at Shelley College; she was noticed at age 17, when performing in a school production at the Royal National Theatre, and was picked for a role in the 1992 film *Waterland*.[6]

## Career

### Beginnings (1992–2004)

At
 the age of 17, Headey performed in a one-off show and afterwards a
casting agent took a photo and asked her to audition. She eventually
obtained a supporting role in the drama *Waterland*
 (1992), in which she had the opportunity to work with actors who had
been in the business several years before her. She also had a small role
 in the critically acclaimed film *The Remains of the Day*, which received eight Academy Awards
 nominations. Her career would continue to grow in England throughout
the decade, and see larger parts in bigger motion pictures.

Headey played Kitty Brydon, the childhood friend and romantic interest of Mowgli, in Disney's *The Jungle Book* (1994). James Berardinelli praised the cast's "solid performances".[7] as part of a positive critical reception, and the film found moderate commercial success in theaters.[8] She appeared opposite Vanessa Redgrave in the 1997 romantic drama *Mrs Dalloway*,
 portraying the closest friend of a housewife, who is now wife of a
self-made millionnaire and mother of five. She was then cast in the
drama *Onegin* (1999), a film based on the 19th century Russian novel of the same name by Alexander Pushkin, in which she portrayed the fiancé of an aspiring poet and appeared with Ralph Fiennes and Liv Tyler.[9] The film was critically and financially unsuccessful.[10]

In 2000, Headey played a newly promoted lawyer with not apparent emotional attachments in the romantic comedy *Aberdeen*, receiving a received the Silver Iris Award
 for Best Actress at the 2001 Brussels European Film Festival, and also
starred as a troubled college student in the psychological drama *Gossip*, with Scarlett Johansson. In 2001's comedy *The Parole Officer*, Headey took on the role of a police officer, alongside Steve Coogan in his first film role. While the film was warmly received, *ViewLondon*
 remarked: "The only disappointment is Lena Headey, who, despite being
fantastically sexy (she’s given both a nude scene and a ‘dressed as a
prostitute’ scene), smirks her way through the entire film, even at the
most inappropriate moments".[11]

In 2002, she appeared as a mousey Victorian lesbian artist with Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhart in the mystery drama *Possession*, based on the 1990 novel of the same name by British author A. S. Byatt, and as the wife of a law-abiding art framer dying of leukemia in the thriller *Ripley's Game*, adapted from the 1974 novel of the same name. In its review for the latter, *Eye for Film*
 noted: "Whilst this is very much a male-centered film, Lena Headey
turns in a powerful performance as Jonathan's wife, creating a sense of
balance and normality against which other events are contrasted".[12] Headey appeared in the comedy *The Actors* (2003), opposite Dylan Moran and Michael Caine, portraying the love interest of a struggling actor.[13]

### Rise to prominence (2005–2010)

Headey found a much wider recognition when she starred with Matt Damon and Heath Ledger in Terry Gilliam's adventure fantasy film *The Brothers Grimm* (2005), as Angelika, whose woodsman father was transformed into a werewolf by the Evil Queen.
 She was drawn to the "tomboy" nature of her character, on which she
stated: "She lives and grows up and survives in the forest. Terry and I
talked about how her instincts are almost animalistic and she can see
360 degrees around her. She is aware of what is going on. That is how
she is grounded. She is of the earth".[14] *The Brothers Grimm* received mixed reviews and made US$105.3 million worldwide.[15][16]

In 2005, Headey also starred with actress Piper Perabo in the films *The Cave* and *Imagine Me & You*. The horror film *The Cave*
 saw the actress play a member of a group of divers who become trapped
in an underwater cave network. While critical response was negative,[17] the film managed to turn a profit at the box office.[18] In the romantic dramedy *Imagine Me & You*,
 she took on the role of a woman who becomes infatuated with a newlywed
bride, causing a stir among the bride's family and friends. The film
found a limited release in theaters, but Mick LaSalle from the *San Francisco Chronicle*
 stated that the actress "has a forthright, irresistible appeal and a
face and especially a smile that suggest intelligence, integrity and
lots of fun".[19]

Headey at the 2007 Scream Awards

Her most known film role came perhaps in 2007, when Headey played Queen Gorgo in Zack Snyder's epic war film *300*, based on the 1998 comic series of the same name by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley, a fictionalized retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae within the Persian Wars. Her character has a much larger role in the film than she does in the comic book, where she only appears in the beginning,[20]
 and required her to film naked for one scene. "It's always weird the
thought of taking your clothes off in front of 20 people and then to
have it projected in front of many more", she said during an interview.
"I think it was necessary because we only get that scene to establish
their relationship. It is a very obvious moment but I think it does it
in quite a beautiful way."[21] The film received mixed reviews, but was a box office success, grossing over US$450 million.[22] In 2007, she also appeared as the stuffy Miss Dickinson in the sixth release of the *St. Trinian's* film series.

Headey starred as Sarah Connor in Fox's *Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles*, a television spin-off of James Cameron's popular *Terminator* franchise. The show ran for 31 episodes in two seasons, from January 2008 to April 2009. *Variety*
 praised "Headey's gritty performance as Sarah —managing to be smart,
resourceful and tough, yet melancholy and vulnerable as well".[23] For her performance, she was nominated twice for the Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television. In 2008, she starred alongside Matthias Schweighöfer and Joseph Fiennes in *The Red Baron*, a biographical film of the legendary World War I fighter pilot Manfred von Richthofen,[24][25] appeared in Ridley Scott-produced sci-fi drama *Tell-Tale*, a film based on the short story by Edgar Allan Poe,[26] and played a radiologist in the horror film *The Broken*, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.[27] While the three aforementioned films went largely unnoticed by audiences, some critics praised Headey's performance in *The Broken*, including Kim Koynar, of *Cinematical*, who wrote that Headey "largely carries the film, and does so quite ably".[28]

In 2009, Headey played an ill-fated character in the slasher film *Laid to Rest*, which received a DVD release,[29][30] had a part in a short film titled *The Devil's Wedding*, and also provided her voice for an episode of the Cartoon Network series *The Super Hero Squad Show*, playing Black Widow and Mystique. She briefly appeared in the independent comedy *Pete Smalls Is Dead* (2010).

### Mainstream success (2011–present)

Beginning in April 2011, Headey has portrayed queen regent Cersei Lannister on the HBO series *Game of Thrones*, based on George R. R. Martin's *A Song of Ice and Fire* series of novels.[31] She was cast in the role after her friend and eventual co-star, Peter Dinklage, suggested her casting to producers.[32] Her performance as the ruthless queen has received critical acclaim,[33][34][35] earning a Scream Award nomination in the category of Best Fantasy Actress for the role in 2011,[36] and Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2014,[37][38] 2015,[39] 2016 and 2018.

After guest-starring in the *White Collar* episode "Taking Account" in 2011, Headey took on the role of the leader of a drug dealing gang and the primary villain in the 3D sci-fi action film *Dredd* (2012), alongside Karl Urban and Olivia Thirlby.[40][41][42] Her performance was inspired by punk-rock singer Patti Smith,
 and on the character, Headey asserted: "I think of [Ma-Ma] like an old
 great white shark who is just waiting for someone bigger and stronger
to show up and kill her [...] she's ready for it. In fact, she can't
wait for it to happen [...] She's an addict, so she's dead in that way,
but that last knock just hasn't come". Despite a positive critical
response, the film flopped at the box office, seeing greater success
following its home release; it has since been recognised as a cult film.[43]

Headey joined again with Ethan Hawke to star in *The Purge*
 (2013), a "micro-budget" horror film, in which she took on the role of
the matriarch of a family who find themselves endangered by a gang of
murderers during the annual Purge, a night during which all crime, even
murder, is temporarily legal. The film at number one position in the
United States, grossing over US$US36 million over the weekend;[44] it eventually made US$89.3 million worldwide.[45] She next played shadowhunter Jocelyn Fray/Jocelyn Fairchild in*The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones* (also 2013), based on the first book of *The Mortal Instruments* series by Cassandra Clare, and opposite Lily Collins and Jamie Campbell Bower. The film flopped at the box office, and as a result, plans for sequels were eventually canceled.[46]

Following the success of *300* (2007), Headey reprised her role as Queen Gorgo in *300: Rise of an Empire*, which was released in 2014. Like the first film, *Rise of an Empire* received mixed reviews, but was a major commercial success, grossing over US$337 million worldwide.[47] In 2014, she also starred in the fantasy adventure film *The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box*[48] and the biographical film *Low Down*, which detailed the life of jazz pianist Joe Albany.
 In 2015, she played the wife of a federal prosecutor running for office
 who cannot stop himself from sleeping with high-class escorts in the
political thriller *Zipper*, opposite Patrick Wilson.

In the historical action comedy *Pride and Prejudice and Zombies*, Headey appeared as Lady Catherine de Bourgh, with her former *Game of Thrones*, *Century* and *The Contractor* co-star Charles Dance. Andrew Barker, of *Variety*, found her to be "excessively diverting" in what he considered a "tolerable, but not handsome enough" film.[49] In 2017, Headey appeared as a "predictably hard-boiled boss" in the crime thriller *Thumper*, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival,[50] and provided the voiceover for Mercedes A-Class television advertisement and Morgana in *Trollhunters*.