More than a decade after Game of Thrones delivered one of television’s most unforgettable scenes, Lena Headey is reflecting on the controversy that followed Cersei Lannister’s infamous “Walk of Atonement” — and why she still doesn’t understand the criticism.
Speaking to The Telegraph, the 52-year-old actress said she was stunned by the reaction after it emerged that body double Rebecca Van Cleave performed the nude scenes, while Headey focused on the emotional performance.
“I was really shocked by the anger, by this idea that I’d duped the audience,” she said. “By that point everyone knew the cast. It was insane simply going anywhere, and I was with 3,000 extras.”
Headey explained that filming such a demanding sequence in front of thousands of people while also performing full nudity would have taken her out of the character entirely.
“I wouldn’t have been able to do the emotional part of the job,” she said. “I’d have been in full-on defensive mode.”
The actress made it clear the decision wasn’t about refusing nudity. She has appeared nude on screen before, but believed Cersei’s emotional state would have been compromised if she had spent three days worrying about being exposed during filming.
She previously told Entertainment Weekly that she allows herself to become emotionally vulnerable while acting, and feared the experience would have left her feeling angry rather than capturing the quiet humiliation the scene demanded. Headey also praised Rebecca Van Cleave, describing the body double’s contribution as physically demanding and an essential part of bringing the sequence to life.
Looking back, Headey believes her years in the industry gave her the confidence to set boundaries that many younger actresses often don’t feel able to establish. She admitted that earlier in her career she rarely questioned intimate scenes, seeing them as part of the job rather than something she could challenge.
“There was this rite of passage all young female actors had to go through,” she said, referring to the expectation that rising actresses would film sex scenes or nudity as part of landing major roles.
Those experiences, she added, have shaped her view of the entertainment industry, particularly the imbalance of power that allowed predatory behaviour to flourish for years. Headey believes the #MeToo movement helped expose those realities and says younger performers are now far more willing to refuse situations that make them uncomfortable.
“The attitude today is, ‘I’m not f—ing doing that,'” she said.
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Last modified: July 21, 2026
