Lena’s Walk of Shame Body Double Reveals All
Most of the time, being a body double on a high-profile show like Game of Thrones means sitting in the hot sun during stunt photography while the real stars hang out in their air-conditioned trailers and run lines. Sometimes, it means sitting uncomfortably close to pyrotechnics and dangerous stunts so that the actor in question doesn’t have to. In other instances, it can mean being the nude back shot of an actress who has it written into their contract that they won’t do nudity on the show, like Emilia Clarke.
But in rare cases, it can mean doing something really difficult, as in the case of “Mother’s Mercy.” At this point, everyone knows that Lena Headey, although she did perform the walk herself in multiple takes in order to act out the facial expressions, was not the body we saw walking naked, covering in filth and muck and garbage as she made her way to the Red Keep. When she walked it, Headey wore a brown shift. Some outlets suggested that Headey was far along in the pregnancy and that even is she had wanted to, there was no way she could have performed the walk herself. But Headey only says that she opted out “for several reason” including that she wanted to concentrate on the emotional performance, and not having to deal with her naked body being started at by thousands of extras. Her face was photoshopped onto the body we saw walking.
So whose body was that? It belonged to the woman who worked as Lena Headey’s body double on the show, Rebecca Van Cleave. The show worked hard to make it look like a seamless take and that one person did the entire walk, but by Thursday of last week, the UK press had found out who the double was, and outed her. Van Cleave spoke to Entertainment Weekly on what it was like to experience the scene.
“It was one of the scariest, most wonderful, most gratifying experiences I could have imagined. 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…. The first time I took off the robe there was all this anticipation building up to it. But it’s such an emotional experience for Cersei, you almost check out of the fact that you’re nude. You’re so in touch with the scene and what you’re going for.”
She and Headey worked very closely together to make sure they were both in the same mindset that Cersei would be in in the moment.
“Lena was so good about walking beside me and guiding me into what Cersei was thinking and the movements…We were playing tag team — ‘You’re it!’ — and trying to make light of the fact we’re all covered in everything and going through this together.”
Van Cleave was hired as Headey’s body double with this scene in mind. The show had over 1,000 actresses apply, seven of which were flown to Dubrokvnik for the final audition. Van Cleave, who is American, had never done a nude scene before. But director David Nutter said she had exactly what they were looking for.
“We needed somebody who could do The Walk of Shame physically, somebody who could match Lena’s integrity, intensity and sensibility…We found a tremendous actress in Rebecca; she was a godsend. The courage of this girl, who’s never done anything like this in her life, who understood what was important about this … once I had her I felt like I could accomplish anything.”
Still, it wasn’t the easiest thing. Van Cleave said that by the end, she was in the same overwhelmed emotional state Cersei would have been in: “[p]articularly moments when I got all kinds of stuff thrown at me, with the chamber pots [being dumped out]…Then on the last day, there was a well of emotion when she’s finally getting to the end and I was getting to the end too—not in a bad way, it’s almost like being one with the character.”
Van Cleave also says that anyone who thinks that the use of her as a body double detracts from the scene is wrong. “Lena put her heart and soul into that scene. It should all be about the finished product, not about whose body was where and and whose head was where.”
But she admits that, the next time she gets a major role like this, she hopes it’s one where she gets to keep her own head. One would assume it won’t be on Game of Thrones though, since everyone on the show seems to eventually lose theirs.
Spoiler Alert!
Please take care to tag spoilers in your comments by wrapping them with <spoiler></spoiler>. Spoilers in comments are hidden by a gray overlay. To reveal, simply hover or tap on the text!