Hello people of 2017, if you’re not currently hyped up over the not-soon-enough return of Game of Thrones, and if you’ve not seen a single teaser or trailer or promo picture that’s making us head-over-heels crazy about the upcoming Season 7, out this Sunday, then well…
Did you even get that reference? Sigh, this should get you up to date.
Okay, snark aside, here’s why we’re madly excited (though, um, not frenzied enough to kill). This season of the epic fantasy series sees Daenerys Targaryen storming into Westeros like she was, well, born to, with her armies, angsty dragons, and Hand of the Queen, Tyrion Lannister. Jon Snow is now King in the North, which, as history goes, doesn’t bode well at all, though he’s returning to Winterfell for what’s hopefully gonna be more heartwarming Stark reunion moments. Heard that Arya?? And over at King’s Landing, there’s a new queen sitting atop the Iron Throne: Cersei Lannister.
As for the actress that plays her to perfection, Lena Headey, in an interview with The Edit, she sits down with co-star Maisie Williams (who plays Arya Stark), and reveals her favourite moments from the show, her thoughts on being in the entertainment industry, as well as a bit of reminiscing about her halcyon youth.
“I think the highlight was [last season] when [Cersei] blew up the Great Sept of Baelor, then just enjoyed her wine. And this season coming, because she’s lost everything. Whatever was good [in her life] has been erased and she’s a horrible cow to one particular character… It’s really quite loathsome,” she says, when asked about her character’s best moment in the show.
However, she also immediately clarifies that the horrible-but-kinda-badass move isn’t necessarily something that she hated. “I thought that was great. The High Sparrow [played by Jonathan Pryce] was yet another man who came along and was like, “I’m going to manipulate you.” So I think her revenge… Well, I was like, “Yes! F*** you!” And she took out Margaery Tyrell [Natalie Dormer] and her low-cut blouse. Bye, perky tits.”
Our thoughts exactly,
On the Game of Thrones death that left her heartbroken:
“Last season I was doing [post-production] in LA and watched Hodor’s death. I was just weeping. The technician said, ‘Are you OK?’ and I went, ‘I didn’t know, I didn’t know he died.’ I was beside myself; genuinely heartbroken.”
On who would win in a Cersei-Arya death match:
“Surely Arya would kill Cersei? Arya’s such a little fiend that she would find a way. Look, she f****** wears people’s faces.”
On her rebellious teenage years:
“I would sneak boys into my house all the time. We lived in a tiny little house in Yorkshire with a tiny little landing, and one night my boyfriend got up to have a wee and found my mum sitting naked on the toilet. She was screaming, he was screaming, and my dad comes out of the bedroom and literally chased him out of the house, naked.”
On how she wouldn’t have been able to handle fame when she was younger:
“[Fame] hasn’t changed my life because I did my madness when I was younger. I’d probably be dead if [fame] had happened to me when I was young. The things it allows you to do, the places it takes you, the people you meet, the parties you go to… It’s bonkers.”
“I’ll always love you, Maisie, because you’ve just remained. You guys [Game of Thrones’ younger cast members] have all handled it brilliantly. I just think it’s great; you’ve grown up with this, and you’ve remained delightful. There isn’t a knob amongst you, which is incredible. Not everybody would have come out…knobless.”
On her experience of sexism as an actress:
“I said [to a female colleague], ‘Do you find that you have to say the same things seven times, whereas a man says it once and everyone listens?’ Male counterparts can say the same thing [I just did] and everyone’s like, ‘Oh, that’s a great idea,’ and I’m like, ‘I just said that 19 times but you chose not to listen or take it on board.’”
“I’m happier now I’m older, playing women who aren’t expected to be beautiful. That pressure has gone for me. [Male] actors can be ‘interesting’, but there’s a real pressure on women to be beautiful and skinny.”
On who will claim the Iron Throne:
Maisie Williams: “So who do you want to see on the Iron Throne in the final hour? Who gets it?”
Lena Headey: “I think she’s already sitting there, isn’t she?”
Of course, you can read the entire exclusive over at net-a-porter.com, and purchase the entire look off the magazine’s pages as well.
Game of Thrones Season 7 premieres in Asia the same time as the U.S. – exclusively on HBO (StarHub TV Ch 601) this July 17 at 9am, with a same day primetime encore at 9pm. The series will also bestreaming on HBO on StarHub Go and HBO On Demand (StarHub TV Ch 602).
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