Game Of Thrones: 20 Greatest Performances

1. Lena Headey - Cersei Lannister

Cersei game of thrones
HBO

As this list proves, there are many, many flawless performances within Game of Thrones but in the end there can only be one winner. All hail the queen.

Truly, Lena Headey's performance as Cersei Lannister is something else. She didn't so much play Cersei as live her, filling every movement, expression and line of dialogue with more than several pages of dialogue could ever convey.

She was a horrible woman with simmering rage running through everything she said but, thanks to the humanity and grief Headey injected into her, it was all too easy to forget her villainous nature. Like nearly all of Game of Thrones' villains, Cersei was a very sympathetic and complex figure who most viewers had a love-hate relationship with.

Cersei was arguably Game of Thrones' best-written character before season eight screwed her over (and the TV version was a bit better than the book version too) and it's a great thing that Headey was able to do this incredible character justice.

So yes, Lena Headey's performance is arguably the best in Game of Thrones and it's hard to imagine anyone topping this in the upcoming prequel series.

Contributor

Film Studies graduate, aspiring screenwriter and all-around nerd who, despite being a pretentious cinephile who loves art-house movies, also loves modern blockbusters and would rather watch superhero movies than classic Hollywood films. Once met Tommy Wiseau.