"There's nothing more exciting for an actor than a chance to lose, to be someone who has lost - especially if it's someone who starts off with a veneer of control. To be broken is wonderful."
Lena Kathren Headey (born 3 October 1973 in Hamilton, Bermuda) is an English actress.
She was discovered at age 17 performing in a one-off show at the Royal National Theatre. Her first major role was in The Jungle Book as Katherine. Other major roles of hers include Queen Gorgo of Sparta in 300, Sarah Connor in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and Queen Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones.
She was in a relationship with Jason Flemyng for nine years. From 2007 to 2012, she was married to musician Peter Paul Loughran, with whom she has a son named Wylie.
Roles:
- Soldier Soldier (1993) as Sheena Bowles
- The Remains of the Day (1993) as Lizzie
- MacGyver: Trail to Doomsday (1994) as Elise Moran
- The Jungle Book (1994) as Katherine "Kitty" Brydon
- Ballykissangel (1996) as Jenny Clark
- Mrs. Dalloway (1997) as Young Sally
- Merlin (1998) as Queen Guinevere
- Onegin (1999) as Olga Larina
- Gossip (2000) as Cathy Jones
- The Parole Officer (2001) as Emma
- The Gathering Storm (2002) as Ava Wigram
- Ripley's Game (2002) as Sarah Trevanny
- The Cave (2005) as Dr. Kathryn Jennings
- The Brothers Grimm (2005) as Angelika
- Imagine Me & You (2005) as Luce
- 300 (2007) as Queen Gorgo
- 300: Rise of an Empire (2014)
- St Trinians (2007) as Miss Dickinson
- The Broken (2008) as Gina McVey
- The Red Baron (2008) as Kate Otersdorf
- Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008-09) as Sarah Connor
- Laid to Rest (2009) as Cindy Smith
- Risen (2009) as various characters (voice)
- The Super Hero Squad Show (2009) as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, Raven Darkhölme / Mystique (voice)
- Game of Thrones (2011-17, 2019) as Queen Cersei Lannister
- Game of Thrones (Telltale) (2014, voice)
- White Collar (2011) as Sally
- Dredd (2012) as Madeline "Ma-Ma" Madrigal
- Dishonored (2012) as Callista Curnow (voice)
- The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013) as Jocelyn Fray
- The Purge (2013) as Mary Sandin
- Uncle Grandpa (2014-17) as Aunt Grandma (voice)
- Danger Mouse (2015-17) as Jeopardy Mouse (voice)
- Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV (2016) as Lunafreya Nox Fleuret (voice)
- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016) as Lady Catherine de Bourgh
- Tales of Arcadia (2016-20) as Morgana (voice)
- Trollhunters (2016-18)
- Wizards (2020)
- Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2018) as Big Mama (voice)
- Sally4Ever (2018) As Herself
- Fighting with My Family (2019) as Julia Bevis/Sweet Saraya
- The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (2019) as Maudra Fara (voice)
- Infinity Train (2019-21) as Amelia/The Conductor (voice)
- Gunpowder Milkshake (2021) as Scarlet
- Masters of the Universe: Revelation (2021) as Evil-Lyn (voice)
- DC League of Super-Pets (2022) as Lara (voice)
- White House Plumbers (2023) as Dorothy Hunt
Tropes:
- Action Mom: Is often cast as such, regardless of the character being a heroine or a villain.
- Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Has a strong tendency to play these.
- …But I Play One on TV: She recalls in some interviews that some people call her a bitch to her face because they found Cersei Lannister so unlikeable.
- Cartwright Curse: Her on-screen love interests/husbands tend to have high mortality rates. Notable examples are 300, Ripley's Game, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (she begins the series as a single mother with the child's father long dead), Game of Thrones (her husband wasn't her main love interest in this series though) and The Purge — but notably not in Imagine Me & You.
- Celebrity Voice Actor: Like all other voice actors in Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV, she was selected to voice Luna for promotional reasons and did not reprise her role for the video game.
- Contralto Of Danger: Her deep, smooth voice nicely fits her tough or untrustworthy characters.
- Dyeing for Your Art: She is a natural brunette, but her most recognizable role as Cersei Lannister is a blonde. She also cut her hair short for Cersei's "Walk of Shame" scene in the Season 5 finale and kept it that way for the rest of the series.
- Fake American: Maybe a quarter of her roles. (an exception is the Fake Greek in 300).
- Funny Character, Boring Actor: Inverted. She is most famous for playing the proper and very serious Cersei Lannister and her other roles tend to have her play similarly straight-laced characters. In real life though, she's far more expressive, humorous and lively.
- Playing Against Type: Her role as Maudra Fara in The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is effectively the polar opposite of her typical roles outlined inn Typecasting.
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Retroactive Recognition:- Fans of MacGyver may recall that the last conversation MacGyver ever has with another character (in the closing scene of the final TV movie Trail to Doomsday) was with the nerdy daughter of the character whose death set the plot in motion. Guess who that was beneath the terrible haircut and ugly glasses.
- She was the female lead of 1994's The Jungle Book.
- She was Steve Coogan's love interest in The Parole Officer in 2001.
- Star-Making Role: Although her roles in 300 and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles gave her attention, Game of Thrones is generally remembered as what truly made her a star.
- Trolling Creator: She is fond of obliquely spoiling future Game of Thrones plot developments on Instagram. Before its fourth season started airing, she messed with people's expectations when she posted a heart-shape made of stones
, which teased that Lady Stoneheart would appear. She didn't. - Typecasting: As queens and other women trying to raise their sons to be great men. Subverted in Dredd where she's called "Ma-Ma" but isn't an actual mother.
- Oddly specific in certain roles: in Merlin (1998), she plays Queen Guinevere, a queen who is unfaithful to her husband, King Arthur, who is subsequently killed. Later in 300 (2007), she plays Queen Gorgo, a queen who is unfaithful to her husband (albeit coerced to do so), King Leonidas, who is subsequently killed. Finally, in Game of Thrones (2011-2019), she plays Queen Cersei Lannister, a queen who is unfaithful to her husband, King Robert Baratheon, who is subsequently killed.
