Game of Thrones star Lena Headey opens up about two disturbing encounters with a disgraced former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinsteinrevealed that a malfunction with her hotel room key card averted her fears that the situation could get worse.The actress, best known for playing Cersei Lannister in the HBO fantasy drama, recalled in an interview with the Radio Times that she first met Weinstein while promoting the film “The Brothers Grimm” in Venice in 2005.Heidi said Weinstein tried to kiss her during a walk, but she immediately rejected his advances.“Harvey and I went for a walk and he tried to kiss me and I was a little drunk and young enough to not let out two boos. But I thought, ‘You’re 52 years old.’ I told him to get lost,” she said.According to Heidi, Weinstein sent her flowers and apologized the next day.
“My whole body shut down”
The actress said she met Weinstein again about six months later at a breakfast meeting, when Weinstein invited her to a screening of the film and then invited her to his hotel room to discuss the script.Weinstein allegedly told her: “I’m going to give you the script, come to my room.”Heidi said she immediately felt something was wrong when they entered the elevator.“We got in the elevator, and as we got in, I just knew. My whole body shut down,” she recalled.“I said, ‘I think you think I want more than friendship, and I’m not interested in that.'”According to Heidi, Weinstein then took her to his hotel room over her objections.“He literally took me to his room. He was so big.”She said that changed when Weinstein’s key card failed to open the door multiple times.“His key card didn’t work. Eventually, after trying the card again and again and knocking on the door, he took me downstairs and said, ‘Never say anything to anyone.'”Heidi said she was devastated after leaving the hotel.“I got in the car and cried. He never asked me to play a role in any of his movies again.”
Weinstein allegedly commented on her appearance
Heidi also claims Weinstein criticized her appearance early in her career.“Harvey Weinstein also told me to get my teeth straightened,” she said, adding that Weinstein also pressured her to have Botox injections in her forehead when she was in her 20s.
Lena Headey Addressing the power imbalance in Hollywood
The actress discussed her experience while promoting new BBC Radio 4 series Intimacy, an eight-part comedy she wrote and directed.Speaking of the entertainment industry, Headey said she hopes the show explores what she calls Hollywood’s “toxic cycle.”“Most of the people in the room were men,” she said. “A lot of men who don’t love women end up in our industry. They have the power now and it’s time to put us in our place. That’s what patriarchy is, isn’t it?”Weinstein was once one of Hollywood’s most powerful producers and a convicted sex offender currently incarcerated at New York’s Rikers Island. Since allegations against him sparked the #MeToo movement in 2017, a number of actresses have publicly accused him of sexual misconduct.