“I never thought she’d have the balls”: The Exact Moment Even Lena Headey Was Terrified of Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones

In a world of kings and men, Cersei Lannister made herself the most powerful and ruthless of them all. But crafting such a character – as villainous in her desires as fraught with wretched misfortune – only an actor like Lena Headey could have pulled off an irredeemable arc as the one she portrayed in Game of Thrones.

However, when it comes to appreciating the fictional queen, Headey would be the first in line to say she is in awe of her. After all, only a fierce character like hers would refuse to be subdued by the humiliation of the Walk of Shame and instead blow up the entire Sept full of fanatics (and the young queen trying to take her place) as revenge.

Cersei Lannister: A Subject of Terror and Admiration

When asked about her character in Game of Thrones, Lena Headey was quite clear as to where she stood in her perception of Cersei: “a self-serving manipulator.” But as she grew older and more acquainted with her alter ego, Headey came to a different understanding.

She’s a woman surviving in a really s–tty world desperate to be heard, saying something seven times when a man says it once.

From that perspective, she is to be admired rather than ostracized or feared. However, Cersei Lannister has been labeled as the central antagonist of the HBO series with good reason and the poor-tragic-me routine would make her livid rather than help the audience sympathize with her.

After dealing with trauma, grief, and inequality of her own, Cersei Lannister took control of her fate and carved up the world in her design to make up for the lackluster destiny that the witch prophesied about her. In the end, although she did lose everything, Cersei clawed back to the Iron Throne and made sure that not even the gods could keep her from taking what was hers.

Lena Headey Remains in Awe of Cersei Lannister

Lena Headey doesn’t sympathize with her Game of Thrones arc but she sure does admire her. When asked about Cersei’s arc after Season 6 which ends with her blowing up the Sept and ascending to the throne herself, Headey claims:

I couldn’t believe that moment. I never saw that coming in a million years, I never thought she’d have the balls to finally go, “All right then, I guess I’ll f—ing do it.” It was a great moment. I’m sure getting the seat of power is never comfortable on every level. But she’s aware. She’s aware of all of the s–t, the pain she’s created for everybody.

In spite of the pain and terror inflicted by her hands, up until Season 6, her actions could all be justified as a mother’s attempt to protect her children. But after her actions led to Tommen giving up the crown and jumping out of a castle window, Cersei truly had nothing and no one stopping her from taking what she wanted all along – true and absolute power to make the world bow to her will.

Game of Thrones is streaming on Max.