Celebrity4 min(s) read
Published 11:35 21 Jul 2026 GMT
Game of Thrones star Lena Headey has opened up about the extreme decision she made to avoid being asked to film nude scenes.
The 52-year-old British actress, best known for playing the ruthless Cersei Lannister in HBO's fantasy epic, reflected on her experiences while promoting her new BBC Sounds series Intimacy, in which she plays an intimacy co-ordinator dealing with a personal crisis.
Speaking to HuffPost UK, the Emmy-nominated actress explained how the industry has changed over the past decade, with intimacy co-ordinators now helping actors establish clear boundaries during intimate scenes.
"Most directors will ask for more than they need, in terms of nudity - so, to have someone who’s like, 'nah, you don’t need that', is great," she explained.
Before safeguards were used, Headey came up with a creative way to make directors think twice about asking her to film nude scenes.
"I got my whole back tattooed at one point, because I was like, 'at least then they’re going to have to ask me to go to makeup [before doing a sex scene]', and I’ll say, 'that’s going to be eight hours," she revealed. "There weren’t any co-ordinators. So I used ink."
She quickly clarified that she already wanted the tattoos, adding: "But yes. I was like, at least if I do this, and they go, 'can we see a full nude back?', I could say, 'you can, but I don’t think in the 19th century they would have had these'."
Game of Thrones became known for its explicit content during its eight-season run, with several cast members later reflecting on their experiences filming intimate scenes.
Among them was Esmé Bianco, who played Ros, an ambitious sex worker who rose from Winterfell to King's Landing under Littlefinger's guidance.
One of Ros' earliest scenes became one of the show's most talked-about moments, when Alfie Allen's character, Theon Greyjoy, asked for one last glimpse of her before she left Winterfell.
The brief moment has since been described by some as one of the "most paused" scenes in television history.
Looking back at the role during the premiere of the show's final season, Bianco told Refinery29: "I think two of my top scenes would be my scenes with Alfie Allen [Theon Greyjoy].
"We had a scene together in Winterfell and then we had a great scene together on the back of the turnip cart."
Years after appearing in the series, the actress spoke about surviving abuse and how those experiences impacted the way she viewed some of her work.
"I was just chatting with someone about the fact that I think because of my experience, some things other people might have struggled with were sort of normalized to a certain extent," she explained.
"My trauma clouded over them and made them actually more palatable for me, which in retrospect, it worries me a little bit."
She later shared on X that she used to "hide in a cupboard to call [her] family and friends" while living with her abuser and also revealed she had taken medication for PTSD.
Despite those experiences, Bianco said she has no regrets about her work on GOT, a series that has been slammed by some viewers over its depiction of sexual violence and abuse.
"I don't have any regrets about any of the scenes that I did," she said. "I feel very comfortable with what I did, and I was treated with respect the entire time."
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Published 10:06 24 May 2019 GMT
If there's one thing Game of Thrones has a reputation for (other than the egregious death count that is) its the copious amounts of nudity. Seriously, it feels as though you couldn't go two minutes in Westeros without seeing a flash of nipple or something.
Apparently, the cast was pretty sick of it, especially Daenerys Targaryen's actress Emilia Clarke, who recently revealed that she turned down the lead role in the Fifty Shades of Grey movie because she was so disillusioned with it. Emilia went nude several times in the first season of Game of Thrones, but eventually felt as though it was all she was ever asked about as an actress.
Check out this hilarious video of Emilia recreating stock photos below:
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Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter during an actress roundtable, Emilia stated: "Well, Sam [Taylor-Johnson, the director] is a magician. I love her, and I thought her vision was beautiful. But the last time that I was naked on camera was a long time ago, and yet it is the only question that I ever get asked because I am a woman, and it’s annoying as hell and I’m sick and tired of it because I did it for the character - I didn’t do it so some guy could check out my t*ts, for God’s sake."
She added: "I was like, 'I can’t.' I did a minimal amount and I’m pigeonholed for life, so me saying yes to that, where the entire thing is about sensuality and sex and being naked and all of that stuff. I was just like, 'No way am I going to voluntarily walk into that situation and then never be able to look someone in the eye and be like, ‘No, you can’t keep asking me this question.'
The part of Anastasia Steele ended up going to Dakota Johnson, but it's strange to think that in an alternate reality, Emilia would be the lead in an S&M movie.
Published 20:16 22 Mar 2019 GMT
On Game Of Thrones, scheming matriarch Cersei Lannister and defiant mother-of-dragons Daenerys Targaryen are preparing to face off in a battle for the Iron Throne. In real life, though, the actresses Lena Headey and Emilia Clarke are quite friendly - possibly because they both played Sarah Connor in Terminator projects. After the mother of dragons shared a story about a serious health scare, Lena posted a touching response on Instagram. (Cersei probably would have posted a crying laughing emoji.)
In case you took yesterday off from maniacally news-googling Game of Thrones, Emilia wrote an essay for The New Yorker.about surviving two life-threatening brain aneurysms. After filming the first season of Thrones in 2011, she felt terrified by the massive attention, and irritated by dense journalists who harped on her nude scenes in press junkets. In order to relieve stress, she began working with a personal trainer, and suffered an unusually strong headache during one exercise session.
"My trainer had me get into the plank position, and I immediately felt as though an elastic band were squeezing my brain. I tried to ignore the pain and push through it, but I just couldn’t," Emilia wrote. "I told my trainer I had to take a break. Somehow, almost crawling, I made it to the locker room. I reached the toilet, sank to my knees, and proceeded to be violently, voluminously ill. Meanwhile, the pain -- shooting, stabbing, constricting pain -- was getting worse. At some level, I knew what was happening: my brain was damaged."
The actress was rushed to the emergency room, where she she was diagnosed with a subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), a life-threatening type of stroke. At age 24, Emilia secretly underwent urgent brain surgery, and stayed in the hospital a month to recuperate. When she was released, the doctors warned her that a second, smaller aneurysm could 'pop' at any time.
Then, after shooting season 3 of Thrones in 2013, Emilia's second brain surgery did not go as planned, causing excruciating pain.
"The recovery was even more painful than it had been after the first surgery. I looked as though I had been through a war more gruesome than any that Daenerys experienced," the 32-year-old recalled. "I emerged from the operation with a drain coming out of my head. Bits of my skull had been replaced by titanium. These days, you can’t see the scar that curves from my scalp to my ear, but I didn’t know at first that it wouldn’t be visible."
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Thankfully, Emilia recovered, getting stronger and stronger like her iconic character. On Instagram, Lena Headey shared a photo of the 'warrior,' with an emotional message: "It took me a while to know this woman (there are 64000 of us after all) Not until she spoke to me about her experience did I fully realize the warrior she truly is (MOD [Mother of Dragons] for real x209840000) she does really great things for causes that deserve it. She’s kind and determined and funny and aware. #Thursday’s MVP ... Here’s to @emilia_clarke."
Sarah Connors gotta stick together!
Published 16:25 19 Nov 2019 GMT
Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke has recently opened up about her early acting career and the pressure to shoot nude scenes within the film and television industry.
Clarke has not only revealed that several bosses urged her to bare all to avoid disappointing GoT fans, but also that her on-screen husband Jason Momoa helped to support her in moments she felt uncomfortable.
Speaking candidly about her early experiences with nude scenes while on Dax Shepard’s podcast Armchair Expert, Clarke revealed how she has come to blows while on set:
"I’m a lot more savvy [now] with what I’m comfortable with, and what I am okay with doing.
"I’ve had fights on set before where I’m like, 'No, the sheet stays up', and they’re like, 'You don’t wanna disappoint your Game of Thrones fans'. And I’m like, 'F*** you.'"
Check out this BTS moment Kit Harrington gagged kissing Emilia Clarke. You know nothing, Jon Snow:
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Per The Independent, Clarke also revealed that she felt overwhelmed by the "f**k ton of nudity" featured in the first season of Game of Thrones:
"I took the job and then they sent me the scripts and I was reading them, and I was, like, 'Oh, there’s the catch!' But I’d come fresh from drama school, and I approached [it] as a job – if it’s in the script then it’s clearly needed, this is what this is and I’m gonna make sense of it… Everything’s gonna be cool. [...]"
She continued: "I’m floating through this first season and I have no idea what I’m doing, I have no idea what any of this is. I’ve never been on a film set like this before, I’d been on a film set twice before then, and I’m now on a film set completely naked with all of these people, and I don’t know what I’m meant to do and I don’t know what’s expected of me, and I don’t know what you want and I don’t know what I want.
"Regardless of there being nudity or not, I would have spent that first season thinking I’m not worthy of requiring anything, I’m not worthy of needing anything at all... Whatever I’m feeling is wrong, I’m gonna cry in the bathroom and then I’m gonna come back and we’re gonna do the scene and it’s gonna be completely fine."
Related - Jason Mamoa recently came under fire for posting a video with a huge bear:
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Clarke did reveal that Aquaman star Jason Momoa - who played her on-screen husband Khal Drogo - helped to make her realize that she could set her own rules about how much flesh she was happy to show:
"It was definitely hard. Which is why the scenes, when I got to do them with Jason, were wonderful, because he was like, 'No, sweetie, this isn’t okay.' And I was like, 'Ohhhh.'"
And finally, check out Clarke's amazing reaction when a mascot dropped a cup of coffee in front of her:
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Published 15:51 02 Nov 2021 GMT
Game Of Thrones star Gemma Whelan has revealed sex scenes on the fantasy series could be a "frenzied mess" with directors telling the actors to "just go for it".
The 40-year-old actress played Ironborn warrior Yara Greyjoy in the hit HBO show for six seasons, with her bisexual character eventually earning her rightful place as Queen of the Iron Islands.
Gemma was also involved in several racy scenes during her stint on the fantasy series, and she revealed she and her co-stars were "almost literally" left to get on with it by the directors.
"They used to just say, 'When we shout action, go for it!', and it could be a sort of frenzied mess," she confessed to The Guardian.
"A director might say, 'Bit of boob biting, then slap her bum and go!', but I'd always talk it through with the other actor."
She said there was "always an instinct" for the actors to check in with one another before filming began, in an effort to create a comfortable environment for those involved.
"There was a scene in a brothel with a woman and she was so exposed that we talked together about where the camera would be and what she was happy with," she explained.
In the second season of Game of Thrones Yara and Theon, played by Alfie Allen, had a notoriously intimate scene on a horse.
Whelan said the recent introduction of intimacy consultants on-set have made her feel more comfortable about sex scenes. She said: "Alfie was very much, 'Is this Okay? How are we going to make this work?'"
"With intimacy directors, it’s choreography - you move there, I move there, and permission and consent is given before you start. It is a step in the right direction," she added.
Earlier this year her GoT co-star Hannah Waddingham described a torture scene in the show as "the worst day of my life", claiming she was actually strapped down and waterboarded for 10 hours.
The 46-year-old English West End theatre actor played devoted follower of The High Sparrow, Septa Unella in the HBO show – who was tortured by villainous queen Cersei Lannister, played by Lena Headey, in season six.
Waddingham told Collider's Ladies Night podcast: "There I was strapped to a wooden table with proper big straps for 10 hours. And definitely, other than childbirth, it was the worst day of my life... I was beside myself."
She went on: "I had no voice at all to barely whisper, bruises already coming up like I had been attacked, and I was like, ‘I've basically just been waterboarded for 10 hours.'
"The one thing I kept thinking to myself [was] ‘the production company aren't going to let you die, so get on with it, be uncomfortable.'"
Published 17:01 19 May 2019 GMT
The characters in Game of Thrones sure have a rough time of it, with all the beheadings, stabbings and burning alive - but, on the other hand, the actors in the hit HBO show seem to be great friends! Most of them, anyway...
For years, there have been rumours that Lena Headey - who plays Cersei - and Jerome Flynn - who plays Bronn - don't get along due to a failed romance, but a new report has claimed Lena hates her ex-boyfriend so much, she flat-out refused to film scenes with him.
See Lena Headey recreate Cersei's death scene with a hilarious twist:
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A show source allegedly told British newspaper The Sun that it has been "very awkward on set" due to their "turbulent relationship".
"Lena and Jerome have not filmed together due to a bad break-up," they alleged. "They kept the full extent of it secret but it was a very turbulent relationship and it has been very awkward on set. Lena has opened up to her trusted friends. She appears to have a genuine hate towards him."
In 2014, an article from the Telegraph let slip that the two stars used to date, and are no longer on speaking terms as a result.
"Jerome and Lena aren’t on speaking terms anymore and they are never in the same room at the same time," they claimed. "It’s a pity because they appeared to have patched things up for a while, but now the word is they should be kept apart at all costs."
The formerly loved-up pair first met on 90s ITV drama Soldier, Soldier, but the exact details of their relationship are unknown.
In 2003, Flynn himself confirmed they previously dated, saying: "We’re not a couple right now, people have seen us together and jumped to conclusions. I can’t rule out a relationship with her in the future, I just don’t know."
Here is the trailer for the final ever episode. Do you think it'll be the pay off the fans deserve?
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But with the final episode airing in just a few hours time, most fans will be more concerned at this point with how showrunners are planning on ending the show.
Things aren't looking good, with Sophie Turner recently admitting that the finale will "upset a lot of people".
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