Arabic version: لينا هيدي تتأمل مسيرتها المهنية والشهرة والعائلة

According to The Guardian, Lena Headey has reflected on her childhood, acting career and experiences with fame, including her account of an encounter with Harvey Weinstein that she believes cost her future opportunities. The actor, writer and director was born in Hamilton, Bermuda, in 1973, was raised in West Yorkshire and Somerset, and made her film debut in Waterland in 1992.

Headey said she was an independent and adventurous child, recalling a “feral decade” in the 1970s and 1980s while her parents, who were police officers, allowed their children considerable freedom. She also described mental-health struggles from age 11 through her late teens, including running away at 14. After beginning to act seriously as a teenager, she said she felt happier and found new possibilities through drama and film work.

She recalled auditioning for Waterland after casting directors saw photographs of her school play at the National Theatre. While she described the production as joyful and collaborative, she said she felt vulnerable and uncomfortable with scenes involving nudity and simulated sex. Headey said that after the film she spent a decade auditioning, with her 20s and 30s often proving difficult.

Headey said Weinstein took her to a hotel room during an early encounter, but that his keycard did not work. She said she told him to leave her alone and later felt she had been blacklisted, saying she did not receive another Miramax film and that “a decade and a half of possibilities disappeared.” She also looked back on being cast as Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones, a role she played from 2011 to 2019 and which brought five Emmy nominations.

The actor said the show brought visibility on a scale she had not previously experienced, while she was navigating divorce and becoming a mother twice. She said she does not seek the public-facing work associated with celebrity, describing herself as more drawn to “the joy of missing out.” Headey said ageing has brought liberation from unwanted attention and that her main concern is protecting her children, particularly her 11-year-old daughter.