The actress, most notably known as Cersei Lannister in HBO’s Game of Thrones, will be seeing some action on the big screen soon.
Lena Headey is reprising her role as Queen Gorgo in the 300 sidequel, 300: Rise of an Empire. This time around, she gets involved in some fight scenes, and she couldn’t be happier about it. Talking to Total Film, Headey said, “Yeah! I love all that, I’m such a boy! They’re like, ‘Do you want to come to fight training?’ I’m like, ‘Yes!’”
This 300 film is directed by Noam Morro, but Headey says this one is just as “huge” as the first. Says Headey, “It’s huge! It’s different in that Zack [Snyder] didn’t direct it, so it’s a very different feeling. But the film, visually, follows on very much from the original. It’s something that’s so beloved for its physicality and visceral content. I had fun; I got to hold a sword.”
Headey shot all her scenes in 10 days in Bulgaria.
Based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller, the film centers around Xerxes, leader of the Persian army, and his battle with Athenian warlord Themistokles. Xerxes also has an ally in Carian Artemesia during his battle. It also seems that the film covers some of the same time period as the first film, including the Battle of Thermopylae and the Battle of Artemisium.
Rise of the Empire also has another familiar face to 300 fans, Rodrigo Santoro returns as Xerxes. Others in the film include Sullivan Stapleton as Themistokles, Jack O’Connell as Calisto, David Wenham as Dilios, Eva Green as Artemisia, Hans Matheson as Aesyklos, David Wenham as Dilios, Igal Naor as King Darius, Callan Mulvey as Scyllias, and Andrew Tiernan as Ephialtes.
The film was originally scheduled to hit theaters later this year, but Warner Bros. pushed it back. It is currently set to be released on March 7, 2014.