LENA HEADEY Finding Her 'Happy Place' After Game of Thrones

THE MOM OF TWO SHARES HER LIFE AFTER THE HBO HIT-INCLUDING WHITE HOUSE PLUMBERS AND A WEDDING

- DANA ROSE FALCONE

When Lena Headey began her reign as Queen Cersei Lannister on Game of Thrones in 2011, she never imagined how massive a hit it would become. “Thrones was such a surprise,” she says of the fantasy series that became HBO’s most-watched show ever and received 160 Emmy nominations, including five for her. But once the show wrapped in 2019 after eight seasons, she wasn’t about to rest on her fictional throne. “There was no part of me that went, ‘Life’s going to be easy now,’” says Headey, 49. “It made certain things easier. It opened doors, but it also made things feel harder because you think, ‘What do I do now?’”

That post-Westeros to-do list grew quickly. In addition to her new Watergate satirical drama series White House Plumbers (Mondays on HBO), Headey starred in 2021’s Gunpowder Milkshake and voiced a slew of animated characters for movies and TV. The mother of two also directed her first feature, Violet, and, in October 2022, married Ozark actor Marc Menchaca.