Lena Headey (born 3 October 1973) is an
English actress known for playing
Sarah Connor on
Fox's
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, as well as appearing in such films as
The Remains of the Day,
Possession,
The Brothers Grimm and
300.
Background
Headey was born in
Bermuda, where her father, an
English police officer, was sent to train as a policeman. The family returned to
Huddersfield,
West Yorkshire, when she was eight years old. She had her first taste of acting as a pupil at
Shelley College and had her first big break at the age of 17 when she was spotted performing in a school production at the
Royal National Theatre being picked for a role opposite
Grant Warnock in the 1992 film
Waterland.
Career
Headey has appeared in such films as
James Ivory's
Academy Award-nominated
The Remains of the Day (alongside
Anthony Hopkins and
Emma Thompson),
Stephen Sommers'
The Jungle Book,
Mrs Dalloway,
Gossip,
Aberdeen,
The Parole Officer,
Possession and
Ripley's Game.
Headey co-starred with
Matt Damon and
Heath Ledger in
Terry Gilliam's
The Brothers Grimm, and played
Queen Gorgo in
Zack Snyder's
300, based on
Frank Miller's
graphic novel. She also appeared in two films with
Piper Perabo:
The Cave and
Imagine Me & You. Recent roles include the German film
The Red Baron, a
biopic of the legendary
World War I fighter pilot
Manfred von Richthofen, and as stuffy Miss Dickinson in the 2007 rebooting of the
St. Trinian's franchise (for which she received third billing for a relatively minor role). She appeared alongside
Matthias Schweighöfer and
Joseph Fiennes. She also has a small role in the horror movie
Laid to Rest, which will be released on DVD on 21 April 2009.
In addition to her film work, Headey headlined
Fox's
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, a television spin-off from
James Cameron's popular
Terminator franchise. Headey played Sarah Connor from January 2008 to April 2009. The show ran two seasons consisting of 31 episodes until its cancellation in May 2009.
Over the past couple of years, during downtime on the
Terminator set, the actress worked on her own project which she describes as a "quirky ensemble comedy."
Headey wrote and directed a short to promote the project, which features Piper Perabo and John Cleese. She now hopes to direct and produce a feature length version.
It has been confirmed by the
Chicago Tribune that Headey will play
Cersei Lannister in the upcoming
HBO pilot
Game of Thrones, based on the first book of the series
A Song of Ice and Fire by
George R.R. Martin.
[Chicago Tribune][Hollywood Reporter]
Personal life
[
] London premiere]]Headey dated actor
Jason Flemyng for nine years. She and Flemyng met during the filming of
The Jungle Book. She is close friends with actress
Piper Perabo.
Since 2007, she has been married to musician
Peter Paul, with whom she is currently (as of November, 2009) expecting her first child.
She currently lives in
California.
Filmography
