Entertainment

Her Evil Character Is "Just Damaged"? Come On.

by Mallory Schlossberg

Cersei Lannister is ruthless, amoral, and quite villainous, but the actress who plays her has come to her defense... a bit. When she appeared on Wednesday night's edition of Late Night With Seth Meyers, Game of Thrones star Lena Headey said that Cersei is "just damaged... and complicated." She also asked that you not judge the character too harshly.

Headey, who also was a judge for RuPaul's Drag Race (as Meyers calls it, "Game of Drag"), defended her ruthless character's acts as any actor should — you've got to get behind the role in order to be such a force as she is — but it's impossible to ignore Cersei's behavior. She's ruthless! She also may be a drunk; as Meyers points out, she always has a glass of wine in her hand. And, oh yeah, she's "definitely killed people."

As for the much-hyped about Season 4, Headey says that we'll pick up where we left off with Cersei and as she puts it, her "brother-lover," Jaime. She [Cersei] is "not sure how she feels about it" — both his return and his now-missing hand.

Headey doesn't read the books by George R.R. Martin, so she doesn't know what's to come in the future for Cersei, but she mentioned that she would like to see the icy Queen sit on the Iron Throne. While it would be an upset for anyone who's rooting for Daenerys to take the Throne, you never know what will happen in Westeros.

If you're not watching this flawed but fascinating character on Game of Thrones, you definitely should be. As Meyers says, "come for the incest, stay for the dragons."

You can watch the full interview below:

Image: HBO