Jaime and Cersei Lannister: It’s Complicated

With our countdown to the premiere of Season 5 about to hit single digits, TV Guide’s has Lena Headey and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Cersei and Jaime Lannister) as the cover twins for this week’s issue. As the newly orphaned brother and sister discuss in their interview, life after Tywin Lannister is difficult. But that doesn’t mean they didn’t try to make light of the situation while filming.

“They thought it would be really funny to make him laugh, but he’s a fully committed corpse,” says executive producer David Benioff.

Somehow, Charles Dance strikes me as the kind of serious actor who would be fully committed to everything, whether skinning a deer, lying in state, or ruling with an iron fist.

Check out the video from the photoshoot below the cut, where the twins discuss their relationship. Both agree that there’s only one status that would cover it properly: “it’s complicated.”

I had not actually noticed until now that in the shot of Cersei at Margaery’s wedding, she’s still wearing black. I love that she pointed out that the pattern is the same one Joffrey wore.

As for their interview with TV Guide, Coster-Waldau adds that Jaime not only feels responsible for Tywin’s death, but for Cersei’s grief as well. “Jaime’s responsible for Tywin’s death, so [in his eyes] he’s also responsible for Cersei’s pain,” Coster-Waldau says. “He feels he has to prove something to Cersei—as well as to himself. He wants to do the right thing.” For that to happen, he must embark on a risky mission to retrieve their teenage daughter, Myrcella (Nell Tiger Free). 

His comments on Dorne are also interesting, as are Bronn’s, who refers to the place as one people go to only for sex and/or sword-fighting. “There’s a richness to being in a place instead of using CGI,” he says. “You feel the history.” Jaime will also feel the wrath of Ellaria Sand (Indira Varma). But Jaime has a new trick up his sleeve. “Instead of looking at his golden hand as a hindrance, he starts to see it as a weapon,” Coster-Waldau said.

As for Cersei, Headey admits her character is in over her head from the word go. “It’s the start of everything falling away from Cersei. Her belief in her own competence, strength, and ability to fool everybody and play the game bites her in the ass. She makes questionable choices, believing it will add to her status and control.”

I also love how they talk around spoilers in the back half of the season. Again, it’s all expressed in terms of costumes. “It was a great change from looking polished,” Headey says. “The latter half of the season is tough. Cersei’s broken down by the end.”

Further down in the article, there’re a few quotes from Benioff, Weiss, and Harington on what’s happening up north this season. One of them poses this tantalizing question: “Question of the day: How do you do all this without getting your head chopped off?” But isn’t that the question of the day for nearly everyone in Westeros?

For the whole interview, including a question about how to train one’s dragons for the greater good, check out the article at TVGuide.com.

• Published on 04/02/2015 at 8:00 AM CDT
• Last updated on 10/21/2016 at 1:05 PM CDT