(Book spoilers) Lena Headey appreciation thread

[Mother of Mini Dragons]

I've loved her since Season 1 and she gets better and better. She conveys so much with just her facial expressions. The actors make me love the most unlikable characters.

[Golden Lion]

The nudity is the whole point! It is necessary since the character is supposed to be unable to be the same person she was before. It's the "tragic act" for Cersei that so many of the other characters face: Jaime - loses his had, Bran - loses his ability to walk, Sansa - loses her innocence, etc. She needs to lose the thing that defines her.

Yes, but it being explicit nudity isn't the point.

I agree the walk needs to be nude, I'm just saying I don't understand why people think it needs to be Lena explicitly naked. It can be just as powerful without being as graphic incase Lena doesn't want to go full frontal for it.

[LordStoneheart]

Yes, but it being explicit nudity isn't the point.

I agree the walk needs to be nude, I'm just saying I don't understand why people think it needs to be Lena explicitly naked. It can be just as powerful without being as graphic incase Lena doesn't want to go full frontal for it.

Actually, I think its totally the point. I could walk through a crowd fully clothed any day, but the nudity is what really breaks Cercei's character. But on screen it's a different story. I once got a forum locked because I said something about being excited for it onscreen. Looking back I did phrase it with exactly the wrong words; I mean to say I really will enjoy the villain's downfall, even though its quite brutal. Part of the reason people are excited about Lena specifically doing it, I think, is because they want to see a very real portrayal of Cercei, and up to now Lena has been great at it, even giving us sympathetic moments like her and Tommen on the throne. I think she has done nudity in the past, but as I said before I don't think she should feel obligated to do the scene. I'll completely respect if she declines to do it and they work around it.

[Mulled Wino]

I don't find her villaneous enough.

[Spidey]

I recently watched an Interview session with half the Thrones cast present. Lena was being asked whether she thinks Cersei really loves Jaime. Her answer was that it's not that she loves him but that she wants to be him. That really floored me because it makes perfect sense.. I think she understands Cersei better than I ever did.

[Golden Lion]

Actually, I think its totally the point. I could walk through a crowd fully clothed any day, but the nudity is what really breaks Cercei's character. But on screen it's a different story. I once got a forum locked because I said something about being excited for it onscreen. Looking back I did phrase it with exactly the wrong words; I mean to say I really will enjoy the villain's downfall, even though its quite brutal. Part of the reason people are excited about Lena specifically doing it, I think, is because they want to see a very real portrayal of Cercei, and up to now Lena has been great at it, even giving us sympathetic moments like her and Tommen on the throne. I think she has done nudity in the past, but as I said before I don't think she should feel obligated to do the scene. I'll completely respect if she declines to do it and they work around it.

I think someone said the reason she's turning down nude scenes is because of her son, which is understandable.

It won't affect her walk, they can use a body double, shoot around it or just shop her face onto a body double if they really need the full frontal wide shot. I mean they've taken entire people out of the scenes before (extras on their iphones) shopping lena's face onto a body should hardly break the budget.

[bobbybuilderton]

I assume that for the walk, they will just have the septas making it clear she will have be completely naked. Then she'll ask for shoes and they'll deny them. And then for the actual walking, the easiest way to do it, I think, would be to do one of those over the shoulder, behind the back shots, and a few shots of her face...that way we can still see her breaking down but we also get a good look at her power dissolving as we see the faces of the people realizing she's no better than they are.

[Ser Pounce FTW]

Looking back I did phrase it with exactly the wrong words; I mean to say I really will enjoy the villain's downfall, even though its quite brutal. Part of the reason people are excited about Lena specifically doing it, I think, is because they want to see a very real portrayal of Cercei, and up to now Lena has been great at it, even giving us sympathetic moments like her and Tommen on the throne.

But that's just one part of the story! It has to be a nude walk because at the start of the walk we are ALL cheering. Finally she gets what she deserves. But as the walk continues, the enthusiasm dies down. By the second stumble/fall, we are struggling with conflicted feelings over the devastating nature of this act and by the end, we are completely sympathetic to the character for just having competed it! It is needed just as it is written in order to change the audience as much as the character. We don't need to zero in on her womanly parts but it must be explicitly shown that she is naked for all to see her and judge her if we are to see her in a new light by the end of the walk.

[bobbybuilderton]

I wasn't conflicted. or sympathetic. It changed relatively little about my view of Cersei. I was just glad she would probably finally be quiet and out of the picture now.

[Former Lord of Winterfell]

But that's just one part of the story! It has to be a nude walk because at the start of the walk we are ALL cheering. Finally she gets what she deserves. But as the walk continues, the enthusiasm dies down. By the second stumble/fall, we are struggling with conflicted feelings over the devastating nature of this act and by the end, we are completely sympathetic to the character for just having competed it! It is needed just as it is written in order to change the audience as much as the character. We don't need to zero in on her womanly parts but it must be explicitly shown that she is naked for all to see her and judge her if we are to see her in a new light by the end of the walk.

I think it's a stretch to assume that everyone is completely sympathetic to her by the end of the walk. It would take much more than her suffering shame for a few minutes for me to have even the tiniest bit of sympathy for her character. That being said, I think it's cool she won't due the nudity, and frankly, I think the nudity is over the top in the show anyway, so the less, the better. I think they can come up with something equally humiliating without having her nude.

[Stargareyen]

I don't find her villaneous enough.

:agree:

Frankly, my mind refuses to see her as anything other that Queen Gorgo of Sparta. From Season 1, I've been trying to see her as Cersei, but she's not living up to my expectations from the book. Sean Bean, on the other hand, slid smoothly out of Boromir's skin into Ned's.

[Tywin's bastard]

You're right. She became so good as Cersei, but those drunk scenes in Blackwater... did she even sip at the glass?? I don't know if anybody has seen the special version with the actors commenting the scenes on the DVD, but Peter Dinklage makes fun of that over and over. :D

If you guys think that was well delivered you have never seen a drunk girl/woman :P

You make it sound like drunk girls/women all act in the same manner. If so I'd say that you've seen too few drunk girls/women. ;)

[Ser Pounce FTW]

I wasn't conflicted. or sympathetic. It changed relatively little about my view of Cersei. I was just glad she would probably finally be quiet and out of the picture now.

I think it's a stretch to assume that everyone is completely sympathetic to her by the end of the walk. It would take much more than her suffering shame for a few minutes for me to have even the tiniest bit of sympathy for her character.

I said that we were sympathetic to her having been able to complete the walk but from your comments, perhaps even that much is more sentiments than some readers had for her. I believe that that is what Martin was going for but I can understand that some people will never change their view of a character, regardless of what they have to endure. I know that I, myself, haven't come around to some of the characters I believe Martin had hoped a reader would come around to later in the story.

I don't believe she is a good person, that she has been redeemed or that she is even trying to redeem herself but I love her as a character and am thoroughly enjoying the ride I'm being taken on as I read about her journey. I don't expect her to be quiet in the next book but I expect her to be more subdued until she completely implodes, taking as many victims with her as she can.

And I wouldn't wish that walk on my worst enemy.

[bobbybuilderton]

See that's the thing, I don't think that that's all that bad. It's not like I form opinions of characters and they don't change no matter what. I just...didn't think it was that horrible, as far as punishments go, especially in the world of westeros. It wasn't nice or anything but I don't think it was this horrible, disgusting thing. It's a far cry from "I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy" territory. Pretty tame, actually. In my opinion. Punishments are generally supposed to be unpleasant.

[Ser Pounce FTW]

See that's the thing, I don't think that that's all that bad. It's not like I form opinions of characters and they don't change no matter what. I just...didn't think it was that horrible, as far as punishments go, especially in the world of westeros. It wasn't nice or anything but I don't think it was this horrible, disgusting thing. It's a far cry from "I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy" territory. Pretty tame, actually. In my opinion. Punishments are generally supposed to be unpleasant.

But Cersei is completely broken after the walk. Kevan Lannister was planning on returning her to Casterly Rock in shame. She has lost all her power and will have to rebuild whatever power base she will have in the next book. If by punishment is supposed to be unpleasant you mean it should be physical punishment then I don't agree. Mental punishment cannot be just as painful. And I expect that she will be completely unstable mentally as a result of this, which appears to be what Varys is hoping for.

[bobbybuilderton]

No, I didn't mean it should be physical, I meant what I said. It should be unpleasant. You shouldn't come away from it just fine or the punishment might as well have not happened.

[six]

I think it's a stretch to assume that everyone is completely sympathetic to her by the end of the walk.

This. I most certainly was not. In fact, I was incredibly surprised by her lack of self-awareness even at that point, so it changed little to nothing for me. I enjoy Cersei as much as I enjoyed Norman Bates in Psycho; it's entertaining. But sympathy for Cersei is very hard to maintain for longer than a few pages.

[jons nissa]

This. I most certainly was not. In fact, I was incredibly surprised by her lack of self-awareness even at that point, so it changed little to nothing for me. I enjoy Cersei as much as I enjoyed Norman Bates in Psycho; it's entertaining. But sympathy for Cersei is very hard to maintain for longer than a few pages.

I was very sympathetic to her situation during the walk and thought most readers were as well. Guess not.

[LordStoneheart]

But that's just one part of the story! It has to be a nude walk because at the start of the walk we are ALL cheering. Finally she gets what she deserves. But as the walk continues, the enthusiasm dies down. By the second stumble/fall, we are struggling with conflicted feelings over the devastating nature of this act and by the end, we are completely sympathetic to the character for just having competed it! It is needed just as it is written in order to change the audience as much as the character. We don't need to zero in on her womanly parts but it must be explicitly shown that she is naked for all to see her and judge her if we are to see her in a new light by the end of the walk.

I said that we were sympathetic to her having been able to complete the walk but from your comments, perhaps even that much is more sentiments than some readers had for her. I believe that that is what Martin was going for but I can understand that some people will never change their view of a character, regardless of what they have to endure. I know that I, myself, haven't come around to some of the characters I believe Martin had hoped a reader would come around to later in the story.

I don't believe she is a good person, that she has been redeemed or that she is even trying to redeem herself but I love her as a character and am thoroughly enjoying the ride I'm being taken on as I read about her journey. I don't expect her to be quiet in the next book but I expect her to be more subdued until she completely implodes, taking as many victims with her as she can.

And I wouldn't wish that walk on my worst enemy.

I didn't sympathize or empathize with her before, during, or after the walk. I won't feel sorry for her even when the Valonqar gets her.

And I know its just a saying meant to emphasize on how terrible something is... But I would wish anything on my worst enemies; they deserve it, the bastards.

[DemiNymph]

Love her. She reminded me of Kiera Knightly. Now Kiera Knightly reminds me of her.