Lena Headey has spoken out about the shocking anger she faced from ‘Game of Thrones‘ fans after using a body double for nude scenes, while also condemning Hollywood’s culture of protecting predatory men.
The 52-year-old actress, best known for her iconic portrayal of Cersei Lannister, opened up in an interview with The Telegraph. She revealed she was taken aback by the furious backlash she received after deciding to use a body double for her character’s infamous “Walk of Shame” in Season 5. “I was really shocked by the anger, by this idea that I’d duped the audience,” Headey said of the toxic fan reaction.
Lena Headey Defends Professional Choice Over Nude Scene Criticism
Headey explained that being naked in front of thousands of extras would have made it hard to give the emotional performance the scene needed. “Acting is a joy, but it requires a lot of you. I wouldn’t have been able to do the emotional part of the job; I’d have been in full-on defensive mode.“
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At the time, the criticism felt very personal. “Some people thought I was less of an actress because I didn’t get my tits out,” she told Entertainment Weekly before. Headey said using a double was a professional choice to protect her vulnerability as an actor, not about vanity. She added that the production picked the double without her input.
The 52-year-old compared that fan anger to the more serious problems of safety and power in the entertainment industry.
Lena Headey Opens Up About Early Career Pressures in Hollywood
While Headey felt strong on the set of the popular HBO show and said, “By that point I’d been through the wringer. I could stand up for myself,” she also looked back on her early career with a different view.
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“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. They’d call them the ingenue parts, to make it sound nicer.” She admitted she often pushed down her discomfort and went home to cry instead of speaking up, because she was just grateful to have work.
Lena Headey Calls Out Predatory Men and #MeToo Shift in Industry
The actress, who accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment in 2017, had strong words about the “predatory men” she believes the industry has enabled for years. “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 said.
She noted that one toxic person could “completely sour” a job while getting away with it because of their influence. However, Headey said she feels hopeful that the #MeToo movement has caused real change. “It was only when the #MeToo movement erupted [in 2017] that we realized – oh, this is everywhere… I think most young women I speak to now in this business are so savvy. The attitude today is, ‘I’m not f—ing doing that.‘”
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