In the Game of Thrones season five finale, Lena Headey’s character, Queen Regent Cersei Lannister, took a humiliating walk of shame. But it was not Headey alone who did the walk of shame, Rebecca Van Cleave has been revealed as the double of Queen Lannister’s nude body.
Exclusive: Lena Headey’s nude @GameofThrones body double speaks out: http://t.co/zEXn5YTw4O pic.twitter.com/WLJW99ExEZ
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) June 18, 2015
Queen Lannister was humiliated by walking naked down the streets of King’s Landing to atone for her crimes. Cleave is breaking her silence on enacting the horrifying walk of shame. Cleave performed the stunning sequence for a total of three days.
Game of Thrones naked body double reveals what doing the ‘Walk of Shame’ was really like http://t.co/7ZbTwWWwhg pic.twitter.com/fQ9SnmGh8z
— Indy TV (@TheIndyTV) June 19, 2015
Cleave is a 27-year-old British-American actress and model popularly known for starring in The Royals, The Prey, and 50 Ways to Kill Your Lover.
Actress Cleave worked closely with Headey during the shoot of penance walk in the show’s finale. Headey just wore a simple beige shift while filming the scene in Dubrovnik in October, while Cleave wore nothing.
Lena Headey used a body double for her brutal scene in the Game Of Thrones finale http://t.co/F82IQKQKjb pic.twitter.com/xHOOr6kyln
— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) June 16, 2015
The graphics editing team of the show merged the performances of the two actresses. They mostly used clips of Headey’s facial expression and Cleave’s body movements to create the illusion that Headey was the one who was totally nude.
Cleave shared her experience with EW. “It was one of the scariest, most wonderful, most gratifying experiences I could have imagined,” she said. ”I never in a million years would have thought I would be in Dubrovnik surrounded by hundreds of extras and crew members throwing food at me, but it was amazing.”
Lena Headey’s body double discusses the Walk – http://t.co/1m5nbdX05A @rebeccajoean @IAMLenaHeadey #GameofThrones pic.twitter.com/EmWKZOR7CP
— Watchers on the Wall (@WatchersOTWall) June 18, 2015
Cleave also talked about how Headey guided her while filming the six-minute long scene. “Lena was so good about walking beside me and guiding me into what Cersei was thinking and the movements,” the actress said.
There were several reasons why Headey used a body double for the sequence. First, she was pregnant at the time and second, she desired to put her focus on the emotions rather than nudity. “If somebody is brave enough to do this, I applaud it,” Headey told EW.