It’s not easy to like Lena Headey’sGame of Thronesbaddie Cersei Lannister.
She’s cold, ruthless, and vindictive.
How can any fan of the HBO medieval fantasy drama forget?
And yet, there’s a part of us that kind of digs Cersei, despite her evil ways.
Here’s a look at the stunning transformation of Lena Headey.
But the girl from Yorkshire actually wasn’t born there or anywhere near there.
Her dad was stationed in Bermuda as a police officer when she was born.
She toldVulture, “I was too young to remember any of my time there.
Many little girls live for this sort of thing.
But there are exceptions, obviously.
Not every little girl is cut out for the girly girl lifestyle.
She toldThe Daily Beast, “Yes, I lived in a tomboy phase.
I still do,” before revealing what happened after her mom enrolled her in ballet.
“They asked me to leave ballet when I was 5 or 6,” Headey said.
“They just said to my mom, ‘It’s a waste of my time and your cash.
Take her out.'”
As harsh as that might sound, they probably did Headey and her mom a favor.
And something tells us Headey probably wasn’t too beat up about having her ballerina days cut short.
She was destined for much less girly girl things.
Headey toldMen’s Healththat her mom signed her up for elocution lessons “to speak like a lady.”
And unlike with her ill-fated ballet stint, this time she wasn’t persuaded to discontinue the lessons.
She went through with them and wouldn’t you know it, they worked maybe even too well.
She said her upper-class elocution made her stand out in her working class town.
Then he literally smashed me on the head with his cricket bat because I was different.”
She suggested, “Maybe he just wanted to kiss me.”
Big break
Rather than learn the acting craft in drama school, Headey learned on the job.
“She was just this wonderful, fresh country girl,” Figgis said in a separateNew York Timesstory.
Not everyone was as gung-ho as Headey about the decision.
Her parents felt she should go to college and some friends felt she should go to drama school.
She wasn’t exactly appearing on the cover ofEntertainment WeeklyorVanity Fairback in those days.
And that was perfectly fine with Headey.
I love my life; I love my anonymity."
Look at her with watercress in her teeth.'"
She dreaded the idea of being photographed, calling it “an invasion of privacy.”
Why did Dinklage think Headey would be a good fit for Cersei?
He toldThe New York Timesthat “anyone as funny as Lena is can also plumb the darkest depths.”
She began approaching mother roles in a different manner, including her part inThe Purge.
Unfortunately, Headey also dealt withpostpartum depression.
She justdidn’t realize it at the time.
She and Peter Loughran separated in 2011 and thenfiled for divorceafter five years of marriage in 2012.
To make matters worse, the settlements and custody hearingsplayed out in public.
The good news is that things now appear to be civil between the two exes.
Tatted up
Headey is what you might call a tattooaholic.
She can’t get enough of them.
“I always want more.
It’s a terrible thing,” she toldMore(viaPeople).
She toldEsquire,“you might usually get away with it by keeping your clothes on.”
She’d thrown plenty of punches in her day.
“I took up boxing as a fitness thing,” Headey toldEntertainment Weekly.
“I got obsessed and I would go every day when I wasn’t working.
It’s just an insane sport when you get into it.”
She toldEsquire, “Where I used to spar, there was this terrifying Russian female boxer named Angel.
She was like Dolph Lundgren.
Being an actress, I’d scream, ‘Not in the face!'”
Can you blame her?
The double standard in Hollywood is grossly unfair, as she pointed out in her interview withNet-A-Porter.
“That pressure has gone for me.”
It should be noted Headey always has been hard on her own looks.
She toldThe Telegraphin 2014, “I think I look slightly like a horse.
Hand on heart, I think I’m pretty average.
… Maybe you just don’t see your own beauty.”
She found love again
Headey didn’t plan on getting remarried.
Cadan didn’t listen to Headey and boldly popped the question in 2017.
More than anything, her parents, who live minutes away.
That confirms to me that we did a good thing."
Headey is well aware that there are significant benefits to living in Los Angeles.
And she was willing to stick around, but her kids came first.
She toldThe New York Times, “I want my kids to have a bit of grounding.”
She’s not wrong.
And like many actresses before her, she said the experience was less than pleasant.
He allegedly told her, “Don’t tell anyone about this,“according to Headey.
A rep for Weinstein denied Headey’s claims in a statement toPeople.
She’s also worked with theInternational Rescue Committee, particularly on the refugee crisis.
I just think of myself as a human being.”
