ENTERTAINMENTGame of Thrones' Lena Headey Breaks Silence on Backlash Over Infamous Nude Scene: 'I Was Really Shocked'
Lena Headey reflected on the backlash she faced after using a body double during Game of Thrones' infamous Walk of Atonement scene.
July 21 2026, Updated 5:02 p.m. ET
Lena Headey is opening up about one of the biggest controversies of her career: Cersei Lannister's infamous naked march through King's Landing on Game of Thrones.
Over 10 years later, the actress admitted she's still baffled by how many viewers felt let down by her choice to use a body double for the moment.
The Chaos Behind the Scene
The actress said she was 'really shocked' that some viewers believed she had 'duped the audience.'
Headey pushed back on the idea that skipping the nudity herself was an easy way out.
"I was really shocked by the anger, by this idea that I'd duped the audience," she shared with The Telegraph.
At that point in the series, "everyone knew [the cast]," adding, "it was insane simply going anywhere, and I was with 3,000 extras."
Why She Stepped Back
Lena Headey explained filming nude in front of 3,000 extras would have taken her out of Cersei Lannister's emotional journey.
For Headey, it came down to craft, not modesty.
"I wouldn't have been able to do the emotional part of the job," she explained. "I'd have been in full-on defensive mode."
She's leaned on that same instinct throughout her career, telling Entertainment Weekly in 2016: "I've done nudity. I'm not averse to it." However, she said the thought of "being naked for three days" while trying to contain Cersei's emotions "would feel very angry... and I don't think Cersei would be angry."
Headey also credited her age and experience with giving her the confidence to draw that line.
"By that point, I'd been through the wringer," she told The Telegraph. "I could stand up for myself." She was careful not to criticize younger actresses who might not feel the same freedom, noting they "were much younger and more vulnerable."
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Standing by Her Double
Lena Headey praised her body double Rebecca Van Cleave.
Headey was firm that she didn't check out during filming.
Body double Rebecca Van Cleave took on a physically demanding role, and Headey insisted to Entertainment Weekly, "I didn't phone it in. I was actually there for three days with Rebecca."
A Bigger Hollywood Pattern
The actress said years of experience in Hollywood gave her the confidence to establish boundaries on set.
Headey ties the backlash to a wider issue that shaped her early career.
"When I started out, there was this rite of passage all young female actors had to go through, which usually involved snogging and falling in love, and having s-- and showing your b----," she said to The Telegraph. "They'd call them the ingenue parts, to make it sound nicer."
Without formal training, Headey admitted she rarely questioned it.
"I didn't go to drama school," she said, recalling how grateful she felt just to have a job, even when a scene "felt weird and too familiar."
She was blunter about the industry's power dynamics, calling out "the weird protection that we offer predatory men in the business," and how it collides with vulnerable actresses simply trying "to put food on the table."
Still, she sees progress: "The attitude today is, 'I'm not f------ doing that.'"
