After being scouted at age 17, Headey worked steadily as an actress in small and supporting roles in films throughout the 1990s, before finding fame for her lead performances in big-budget films such as the fantasy film The Brothers Grimm (2005), the action film 300 (2007), portraying Gorgo, Queen of Sparta, and the adventure and biographical film The Red Baron (2008).
Headey is best known for portraying Queen Cersei Lannister in HBO’s hit fantasy series Game of Thrones since 2011, a performance that has earned her two consecutive Emmy award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. She is also known for playing the titular character Sarah Connor on Fox’s Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and the villainous drug lord Ma-Ma in Dredd.
Early Life
Headey was born in Hamilton, Bermuda, the daughter of Sue and John Headey. Her father, a Yorkshire police cadet, was stationed there at the time. She has one younger brother, Tim. The family moved to Somerset when she was five, and then relocated to Shelley, West Yorkshire when Headey was eleven. As a child, she took ballet lessons for a time before being told to discontinue.
Headey had her first experience of acting as a pupil at Shelley College and was noticed at the age of 17, when performing in a school production at the Royal National Theatre, being picked for a role in the 1992 film Waterland.
Career
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. Later, she got a supporting role in the dramaWaterland, in which she had the opportunity to work with actors who had been in the business several years before her. She landed a small role in The Remains of the Day, which came out in 1993 and received eight Academy Awards nominations.She played Katherine in Disney’s The Jungle Book, released in 1994.
After a number of film roles, she appeared opposite Vanessa Redgrave in the 1997 romantic drama Mrs Dalloway. Headey landed a supporting role in a higher-profile film titled Onegin, which starred Ralph Fiennes and Liv Tyler. The following year, she had the starring role in the drama Aberdeen. Headey received several good reviews for her performance in the film. She also had roles in 2000’s Gossip and 2001’s The Parole Officer.
She received the Silver Iris Award for Best Actress at the 2001 Brussels European Film Festival for her role in Aberdeen. In 2002, she had a role in the mystery drama Possession alongside Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhart.
Headey co-starred with Matt Damon and Heath Ledger in Terry Gilliam’s The Brothers Grimm, which was released in August 2005. In 2005, she starred with actress Piper Perabo in the films The Cave and Imagine Me & You. She played Queen Gorgo in Zack Snyder’s 300.
In addition to her film work, Headey starred in Fox’s Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, a television spin-off of James Cameron’s popular Terminator franchise. Headey played Sarah Connor from January 2008 to April 2009. The show ran for 31 episodes in two seasons until its cancellation in May 2009. She was nominated twice for the Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television for the role.
Headey has also appeared in a number of independent films, such as The Red Baron, a biographical film of the legendary World War I fighter pilot Manfred von Richthofen, in which she appeared alongside Matthias Schweighöfer and Joseph Fiennes. Her character was the love interest Käte Otersdorf, a nurse who may or may not have had a romance with Richthofen in real life. She also appeared as the stuffy Miss Dickinson in the 2007 release of the St. Trinian’s series. She starred in the Ridley Scott produced Tell-Tale, a film based on the short story «The Tell-Tale Heart» by Edgar Allan Poe.
In 2008, Headey starred in the horror film The Broken. The film was directed by Academy Award-nominated Sean Ellis. The film was about «a woman who suspects she’s being followed around London by a murderous doppelganger». The Broken was screened at the midnight portion of the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, and generally got average reviews.
Headey had a part in a short film called The Devil’s Wedding. She provided her voice for an episode of the Cartoon NetworkTV series The Super Hero Squad Show playing Black Widow and Mystique.
Since its premiere 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. Her performance has received critical acclaim: in 2011, she was nominated for a Scream Award in the category of Best Fantasy Actress for the role, she was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for portraying Cersei in 2014 and 2015.
Headey made a guest appearance in the television show White Collar in the episode «Taking Account» in which she played the role of Sally. In 2012, she appeared in the 3D action science-fiction film Dredd alongside Karl Urban and Olivia Thirlby. Her character is Madeline Madrigal (Ma-Ma), the leader of a drug dealing gang, and the project’s primary villain. In May and June 2012, Lena filmed the fantasy adventure movie The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box throughout South West England, playing the role of Monica. The film was released in 2014.
She re-teamed with Ethan Hawke to co-star in The Purge, a ‘micro-budget’ horror film. In 2013, Headey was cast as Jocelyn Fray in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones opposite Lily Collins and Jamie Campbell Bower.
Following the success of 300, Headey reprised her role as Queen Gorgo in the 2014 sequel, 300: Rise of an Empire.
Headey also appeared in the 2014 biopic Low Down, a film which detailed the life of jazz pianist Joe Albany, as well as playing the wife of Patrick Wilson’s character in Zipper in 2015.
Headey has been confirmed to star in upcoming comedy horror film Pride and Prejudice and Zombies opposite her former Game of Thrones co-star Charles Dance.
In July 2015, it was reported that Headey will voice Jeopardy Mouse in a reboot of Danger Mouse which will be broadcast on CBBC in late 2015. She will appear alongside Alexander Armstrong as Danger Mouse and Stephen Fry as Colonel K.
Personal Life
Headey was once engaged to Johnny Cicco, and dated actor Jason Flemyng for nine years, from 1994 to 2003. She and Flemyng met during the filming of The Jungle Book, and she had a tattoo of his name in Thai on her arm, which has since been covered. She was reportedly dating Marcos Domina, a Brazilian model, following her breakup with Flemyng
She married musician Peter Loughran in May 2007. Headey and Loughran have a son, Wylie Loughran, who was born on 31 March 2010. They separated in 2011 and she filed for divorce in the Los Angeles County Superior Court on 20 July 2012. The divorce was finalized on 26 December 2013.
In February 2015, Headey confirmed she was expecting her second child in summer 2015. On 10 July 2015, she gave birth to her second child, a daughter.
Headey has been close friends with actress Piper Perabo since they starred together in the 2005 films The Cave and Imagine Me & You. She has also campaigned on behalf of animal rights. Headey is good friends with her Game of Thrones co-star Peter Dinklage, who she has stated first pitched the role of Cersei Lannister to her.
Headey has a number of tattoos, and has stated «I was born wearing ink.» Her tattoos include a large floral design on her back as well as a Pema Chödrön quote on her ribs.
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