Lena is known to hate people gushing over her, but it's what she deserves...

So here's 20 years of colleagues & co-workers praising Lena Headey; a thread.

"Lena Headey has the unique quality of producing true lives in front of the camera. She is very talented and there is no vanity in her.

The lack of vanity is fantastic when it comes from such a beautiful girl. "

Stellan Skarsgard
(Co-star, Aberdeen, 2000)

"I don't think Lena Headey is trying to do big Hollywood movies, but she is so good there will always be work for her as an actress."

Stellan Skarsgard
(Aberdeen, 2000)

"Lena Headey was great to kiss... I didn't object to doing retakes, put it that way!"

Steve Coogan
(Co-star, The Parole Officer, 2001)

"I've known Lena Headey for years. She's beautiful, truthful and hilarious, without vanity or affectation; exceptionally clever."

Ol Parker
(director, Imagine Me & You, 2005)

"Why did I cast Lena Headey? Watch any scene of hers & you can see all the reasons. She's good, kind, beautiful, funny & very smart.

I don't think I gave her a single note all the way through. She knew the character, knew what she wanted to do & did it flawlessly. "

Ol Parker

"I firmly believe there walks no finer on this earth. Lena Headey is as good inside as out - part of why she's so beautiful - so there are no horror stories with her... she was an utter joy to direct, the world is a far better place for her presence in it."

Ol Parker, IM&Y, 2005

"Damn what is Lena doing to you guys? Actually I totally know & understand what she's doing to you, she does it to everyone she meets, and many she hasn't yet.

I can tell you that Lena Headey is everything you would want her to be and more."

Ol Parker
(Director, IM&Y, 2005)

"Lena Headey's so pretty, I think people assume certain things about pretty, skinny English girls but she’s certainly not to be toyed with."

Piper Perabo
(Friend, Co-star, Imagine Me
& You/The Cave, 2005)

"It’s nice to see her so sexy too. Lena’s such an interesting person that she gets cast as these sort of quirky characters.”

Piper Perabo
(Friend, Co-star, Imagine Me & You/The Cave)

“And Lena Headey’s soooo beautiful, even on that poster for 300, you just see that beautiful back, and you’re, like, ‘Who’s that?!'”

Piper Perabo
(Friend & Co-star)

"Lena Headey is great. She's a Northern girl so she's tough and down to earth, she's wiley, she's fun, she's strong and she's beautiful... It was breathtaking just to look at her as Gorgo."

Gerard Butler
(Co-star, 300, 2006)

"I see Lena Headey as my 'Hitchcock Brunette'."

Sean Ellis
(Director, The Broken, 2008)

"I've had fun, especially with Lena Headey who is open, funny, pretty and terrific, all together in one package"

Richard Jenkins
Co-star, The Broken, 2008

"Lena Headey was exactly how I imagined Gina McVey. When I first met Lena she had this very bubbly presence but also a sweetness & vulnerability... and the shape of her & the shape of her face & the way that she smiles... I thought, there she is"

Sean Ellis
Director, The Broken

"I had such a crush on Lena Headey and she and I got along so great together... it was easy to fall in love with Lena."

Dean Winters
(Co-star, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, 2008/09)

"Lena Headey's a very, very strong, intelligent woman & that comes across (on screen)...

...this role is physically demanding but she does almost all her own stunts...she can be quite scary!"

Josh Friedman
(Producer/Show Runner, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, 08/09)

"Lena Headey is one of those actors where you just put a camera on her face and let her do what she does."

Josh Friedman
(Producer, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, 2008/09)

"Lena Headey had an emotional intensity to her that is kind of ferocious...

I felt like, “God, she’s a badass.” There was nothing about her that didn’t feel like a badass."

Josh Friedman
(Producer, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, 2008/09)

"Lena Headey plays my way too hot Mom!"

Thomas Dekker
(Co-star, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, 2008/09)

"Lena Headey has the determination, the intelligence, the intensity and the emotional awareness...

... and it doesn't hurt that she's the most beautiful woman I have ever seen."

John Worth
(Producer, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, 2008/09)

"Talk about a strong female actress. Lena Headey is a really cool girl. She's amazing and absolutely a role model to me.

The gravity she can bring to a scene before she even speaks fascinates me."

Summer Glau
(Co-star, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, 2008/09)

"Lena Headey always gave me really good advice, even life advice from one girl to another. I've always admired her. She's an amazing talent and I cherished my time working with her. It went way too fast... I miss her."

Summer Glau
(Co-star, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, 2008/09)

The moment you see Lena Headey you go 'Wow, that is a jaw-dropping woman' but she has that really quirky, light English sense of humor & is the opposite of a neurotic actress. She doesn't have the ego you can run into with that level of beauty & success

Josh Lucas
Tell Tale, 09

"Lena Headey is super sexy."

Michael Cuesta,
(Director, Tell Tale, 2009)

"Lena Headey is amazing. Very smart, very good dry sense of humour."

Alex Garland
(Writer/director, Dredd, 2012)

"Lena Headey is so cool and I admire her tremendously.

She's incredibly beautiful, as we all know, but just so laidback and incredibly kind. She was a pleasure to work with."

Olivia Thirlby
(Co-star, Dredd, 2012)

"Moral ambiguity is always fun to play & who does it better than the gorgeous & talented Lena Headey?

I have had an actress crush on Lena for years so when they told me she'd been cast I did a happy dance, she's fantastic"

Cassandra Clare
(Author, The Mortal Instruments, 2013)

"The Brilliant/bad ass Lena Headey...

...I'm thrilled to have Lena. Amazing actress."

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
(Producer, Fighting With My Family, 2019)

"I love my Game of Thrones... After getting to know the gorgeous, tender, gracious artist behind Cersei Lannister, it was possible to love her even more than I did already.

Thank you for the laughter and generousity Lena Headey."

Ivanno Jeremiah
(Co-star, The Flood, 2019 )

10 years of 'Game of Thrones' colleagues and co-workers praising Lena Headey; a thread (within a thread).

"We have superb British actress Lena Headey.

Her range was one of the things that impressed us most; Cersei is a character with many colors & Lena will be able to give us all of them.

Her readings were wonderful & of course she's beautiful & sexy as hell"

George R. R. Martin

People watching the show are going to tend to like Cersei more than people just reading the books; that's due to the brilliance of Lena Headey & her wonderful performance giving her a dimension of humanity & explaining her motivations in a wonderfully nuanced performance

GRRM

"The charisma of an actor and how they portray the part. Just seeing someone or hearing their voice can go a long way towards making a character more sympathetic. Sometimes it goes beyond words and Lena Headey is a very sympathetic actress. Great face."

George R. R. Martin

"Sad to say, none of our actors were nominated (at the Golden Globes). Boo, hiss. Lena Headey deserved a nod for sure."

George R. R. Martin
(2015)

"Beauty, brains, wit and power are a tall order in one person but they're what anyone playing Cersei needs.

What ultimately enthralled us about Lena Headey's performance was her approach which was so beautifully understated and at times quietly funny as hell."

D.B. Weiss

“We had seen a number of excellent actresses, but everyone had interpreted the character as an emotionless ice queen. Lena Headey took her in a different and more interesting direction. In Lena's hands, Cersei embodies endless contradictions...
(1/2)

David Benioff
(Producer)

"... The queen can seem both ruthless and fragile, often in the same scene. She can exhibit extreme cruelty but also utter devotion to her own children. And she’s damn funny, which is no surprise if you know Lena Headey.” (2/2)

David Benioff
(Producer)

"Lena Headey is pretty sharp when it comes to charting her own arc, Lena does not need much hand-holding. She brings her A game to work. Mostly you just have to get out her way and let her do her thing."

Miguel Sapochnik
(Director)

"Lena Headey is one of the most talented actresses I’ve ever worked with. She’s an amazing talent and someone so very gifted should be recognized for her ability to really bring it."

David Nutter
(Director)

"Lena Headey’s really something and we enjoy working together. She really can provide magic.

She’s someone who leads with her heart and gets so invested in what she’s going through."

David Nutter
(Director)

"Lena Headey is such a tremendous actor that my goal is to set up the world for her, to let her do her thing and not get in the middle of it. When she has that chance and that freedom to do that, she’s quite astounding"

David Nutter
(Director)

Lena Headey would come to set with very specific ideas, some different from my take on scenes. She'd say "Just let me try it this way & if you don’t like it I’ll do it differently" - at every turn her ideas were inspired & that’s what ended up on screen.

Daniel Sackheim
Director

"I would do anything I could to try to make sure that Lena Headey wins an Emmy."

Alex Graves
Director

"Watch Lena Headey in the "Blackwater" episode of the show if you want to see an actress give a profoundly interesting performance on anything. It's a pleasure"

Alex Graves
Director

"I like to watch Lena Headey because she can go from 'I'm listening and I don't have an issue, to, I have an issue' and nothing changes on her face; she's doing it all behind her eyes; it's the most difficult thing I've seen an actor do and it's effortless."

Alex Graves
Director

"It's one thing to know a character and it's another thing to watch Lena Headey do a first take. In a first take she already has all the subtext and what's happening (in the scene) so down."

Alex Graves
Director

"Lena Headey has great taste and an innate understanding of her character’s journey.”

Michele Clapton
(Costume Design)

"She's so gorgeous, Lena Headey, she's absolutely stunning. You forget sometimes she has dark hair (in real life) because the blonde hair looks so good on her."

Gemma Jackson & Michele Clapton (Production & Costume Design)

"Lena Headey was the only one (actress who auditioned) who conveyed the discomfort that comes with being Cersei — the sense of perpetual scrutiny and besiegement that comes with her position in the world, a position she never chose.”

David Benioff & D. B. Weiss
(Producers)

"Lena Headey has such a beautiful face; very clever; such a good actress."

Charles Dance

"Lovely Lena (Headey)... the most beautiful woman in The Seven Kingdoms. She's gorgeous."

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

"I love working with Lena Headey and we always had such an amazing experience together. l look back at what she has done on this show and it’s amazing."

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

"The best, sweetest most wonderful sister from another mother."

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

"I would go so far as to say that I think (Lena Headey) has a better insight into Cersei than George (R. R. Martin) does."

Peter Dinklage

"Lena Headey; my inspiration and scene partner."

Peter Dinklage

"I'm jealous (of Lena Headey's fearlessness as an actor). She doesn't care what people think. She's drawn to what she's drawn to."

Peter Dinklage

"Nothing makes me happier than working with someone like Lena Headey and finding things you never knew were there."

Peter Dinklage

“I thought she would be a good fit for Cersei because anyone as funny as Lena Headey is can also plumb the darkest depths. The two always go hand in hand.”

Peter Dinklage

"All the great actors, they don't need to do much on screen, they have stillness and they resonate so much power. That's what Lena Headey can do."

Peter Dinklage