8. Open To Interpretation
Episode Two: "The Kingsroad" Commentators: Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister), Mark Addy (Robert Baratheon), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister) In general, commentary tracks just featuring actors aren't very interesting. They'll praise the director, laud the other actors beside them and blubber on about how embarrassed they are to see themselves on screen, but when it comes to those "a-ha!" moments, actors can't hold a candle to the craftsmen: directors, writers, DPs, etc. Occasionally, however, an actor will speak up with a dissenting voice and we get a little bit of a peak behind the curtain of what an actor can bring to a character aside from just reading the lines and going through the motions as dictated by a director. Enter Lena Headey, otherwise known as the fantastic harpy Cersei Lannister, who was forced into a loveless marriage to drunken warrior Robert Baratheon. It's common knowledge that Cersei never loved Robert and that she carried a thinly veiled scorn for him from day 1, right? Well, not according to Lena. When asked about the sincerity of a tale Cersei was telling Catelyn about a dead son, Lena mentions how she's been "shot down" with her take on Cersei Lannister. Rather than believing her to be a stone cold bitch from conception, Lena instead interpreted Cersei as a more tragic figure, a woman who was once young and naive enough to truly love Robert Baratheon. The part she eventually plays in his demise would then stem not from one-dimensional malice, but from the warped disappointment and vengeance of a woman who saw her dreams for love and marriage shattered by a drunken brute. Sort of makes you look at Cersei in a different light, doesn't it?