Game of Thrones star Lena Headey has said that her career could have been damaged by refusing to have sex with Harvey Weinstein.
The actor, who portrays Cersei Lannister on the huge HBO show, recently opened up about how rejecting the disgraced movie mogul could have hindered her progress in the film and TV industry.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Headey said: “After [Weinstein] was discovered to be a slimeball, on a grander scale than me just knowing it, I did start thinking, ‘Fuck, maybe because I didn’t shag him, that’s impacted a decade of my working life’.”
Headey added that she had previously worked on two projects for Weinstein’s film company, Miramax, “before those incidents [of alleged harrassment]”, but said there was “nothing” after that.
Lena Headey accused Weinstein of harassment back in 2017, amid numerous other accusations of rape, sexual harassment, and misconduct levelled at the film producer.
The star tweeted of first meeting Weinstein at Venice Film Festival in 2005, where her film The Brothers Grimm (distributed by Miramax) was being shown.
Headey said that Weinstein had “asked [her] to take a walk down to the water” where he “stopped and made some suggestive comment”, which she “just laughed off”, saying that it would “be like kissing my dad”.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister
Speaking of rejecting Weinstein again “years later”, Headey said that he turned “silent” and “furious” after she turned down his advances.
In December last year, a round-robin email from Harvey Weinstein to his friends was leaked. “I’ve had one hell of a year,” Weinstein reportedly sent. “The worst nightmare of my life.”
Weinstein was indicted on rape and criminal sex charges in 2018, allegations he “unequivocally denies”. A grand jury in New York confirmed the charges against him, despite Weinstein waiving his right to appear before the panel.