Lena Headey

Lena Headey Photo

LENA HEADEY

Date of Birth: October 3, 1973

Born in Yorkshire, England, Lena Headey originally planned to be a hairdresser, but as a teen, dabbled in acting. When a casting director saw her in a play at the National Theatre, she was quickly cast in the movie Waterland (1992) starring Jeremy Irons. She played Mary, a promiscuous teenager, so well that it led to a role as a promiscuous maid in Merchant Ivory's The Remains of the Day (1993), starring Christopher Reeve and Anthony Hopkins.

She made her American debut in the London-filmed TV movie MacGyver: Trail to Doomsday (1994), followed by the lead role of Kitty in the live action The Jungle Book (1994). In Loved Up (1995), Lena played a raver stoned on Ecstasy, then took on a role as a lesbian prostitute in the British miniseries, Band of Gold (1995). Other credits include Mrs. Dalloway (1997) opposite Vanessa Redgrave and The Man with Rain in His Shoes (1998) with Penelope Cruz.

After playing Liv Tyler's sister in Onegin (1999), she then joined Kate Hudson and Joshua Jackson in the teen drama Gossip (2000). The same year, Lena starred in Aberdeen, for which she won Best Actress at the Brussels Film Festival. At about that time, she began dating actor Jason Flemying and obtained a tattoo on her arm that read "Jason" in Thai.

In August 2005, Lena had the distinction of starring in two major North American releases that opened on the same day: The Cave with Morris Chestnut and Cole Hauser, and The Brothers Grimm with Heath Ledger and Matt Damon. She went on to appear in several more films before landing a starring role as the evil Cersei Lannister on the popular HBO series, Game of Thrones, for which she has become best known.

She has also managed to make time to appear on the big screen in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013) and 300: Rise of an Empire (2014) alongside Sullivan Stapleton and Eva Green, as well as playing the role of Lady Catherine de Bourgh in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016).

Lena married musician Peter Loughran in 2007 and they had one son together, Wylie, who was born in March 2010. The couple separated in 2011 and Headey filed for divorce in July 2012.

Filmography:

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016)
300: Rise of an Empire (2014)
Zipper (2015)
Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season (2014) The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013)
Dredd 3D (2012)
Pete Smalls Is Dead (2010)
Tell-Tale (2009)
Laid to Rest (2009)
Whore (2008)
The Red Baron (2008)
The Broken (2008)
St. Trinian's (2007)
300 (2007)
Imagine Me & You (2006)
The Brothers Grimm (2005)
The Cave (2005)
Ripley's Game (2004)
No Verbal Response (2003)
The Actors (2003)
Possession (2002)
The Parole Officer (2001)
Anazapta (2001)
Round About Five (2001)
Aberdeen (2000)
Gossip (2000)
Ropewalk (2000)
Onegin (2000)
Inside-Out (1999)
The Man with Rain in His Shoes (1998)
Mrs. Dalloway (1997)
Face (1997)
The Grotesque (1995)
The Jungle Book (1994)
The Remains of the Day (1993)
Century (1993)
Waterland (1992)