For five years, Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) has been the source of frustration for countless fans. Despite her tough upbringing and social disadvantage, Cersei inspired little sympathy due to her selfish, short sided and misguided actions. At her core, she is a calculating and ruthless Queen whose hunger for power is only matched by her love for her children. A complicated character, no doubt.
But Sunday's seismic season finale accomplished something no fan ever thought possible: it made us feel bad for her. Desperate for a way out of her imprisonment at the hands of the High Sparrow, Cersei elected to "confess" her sins to the religious leader. Unfortunately, her first act of atonement was a forced "penance walk" through the streets of King's Landing completely naked as the city's citizens hurled insults and other, more foul things at her. The scene's pointed cruelty was only outshone by the fantastic performance of Headey, who is a strong contender for a second consecutive Emmy nomination.
Headey spoke to Variety about the scene and had some interesting things to say about it.
"I knew this was the season that the walk would happen. When I first met Dan [Weiss] and David [Benioff], we talked about it - this was the end to a very painful yet important journey for Cersei. So, I was really excited to take this character of privilege and denial and break her down a little... although I don't think Cersei can ever truly be broken."
Headey did an amazing job of internalizing her emotions in that scene while also allowing for a few cracks in her façade of strength along the way. But after such an agonizing and humiliating event in her life, where can she go from here?
"When she walks through the gates, the men standing and staring, people she has known for years make no effort to comfort her. Only Qyburn and his creation come to her rescue. She has been humiliated on an epic scale. But she's a survivor. Cersei moves on quickly. Her thoughts of vengeance are already forming. In fact what kept her spirits up in the cell were thoughts of how she can hurt those who hurt her."
