THE BROTHERS GRIMM
Q&A with Lena Headey		 Search all of phase9.tv






We all grew up with these fairy tales. What resonated with you all these years from those stories?

HEADEY: I just think a sort of youth of imagination that turns you on came from it. Obviously you are born with imagination but it is easy to shut it down. For me though, when I see a scary movie or read a frightening book, when the lights come back up, my imagination is so vast that I scare myself quite stupid (laugh).

Was there one tale that affected you more than any other?

HEADEY: For me, it was Rumplestilskin. I loved it because the guy had these long pointy feet and when he jumped up and down and he sounds quite creepy. When he doesn’t get his way, he would jump up and down and his feet with go through the floor. I loved imagery like that.

Most actors relish playing a period piece because they get to wear some impressive wardrobe. That wasn’t quite the case for you.

HEADEY: That was Monica’s bag on this film (laugh).

Your character is this trapper and when we first see you from the back, one might even conclude you are a man. So how did you create her to make her this unique woman of the time?

HEADEY: I loved the fact that she was a tomboy. That is what attracted me to her is that she wasn’t this predictable female character in this big movie. You meet her and she is masking who she is. I loved that her environment dictated who she is. She lives and grows up and survives in the forest. Terry and I talked about how her instincts are almost animalistic and she can see 360 degrees around her. She is aware of what is going on. That is how she is grounded. She is of the earth.

Did you have to take a boot camp to learn all these special attributes that she was to possess in the film?

HEADEY: I took archery classes and horse training. I also worked with the same guy who did the accents for ALEXANDER to give me the right dialect for the film. At first we had Angelika with an Irish lilt but that was dismissed. We worked a lot on how animal’s vision works. Because they are nocturnal creatures, they open their vision to this wide perspective. It was quite interested figuring it out. When you talk to someone, you stare right at them and you give them all your power. But in the animal world, you take it all in and everything you survey, you own. So while you are looking at someone, you are also taking in the chair over there and all the rest. You can really freak people out when you do that.

Had you ever ridden horses prior to making this film?

HEADEY: A long time ago I was thrown from a horse and dragged through a forest.

So did you have to conquer that fear?

HEADEY: I did actually. When that happened, I just got right back on because if I didn’t, I would have retained that fear.

How good did you develop your archery skills?

HEADEY: I was pretty bad at first. It looks kind of easy at first because it seems so graceful. You just pull back the bow and shoot the thing but it is really tough. It is all about the back but I loved it.

Did you feel you needed to condition yourself differently in the physical sense for the role?

HEADEY: Not really. If I had a long time to prepare I might have but I was cast rather late and so I rushed right in to the part.

Terry said that he really wanted you to actually skin a rabbit but little did he know that you are a vegetarian.

HEADEY: Yes (laugh). I said I wouldn’t do it. But I knew that I should because Terry felt it was important for the character. I went to meet the guys who did it and they had this bunny hanging up with its throat cut. It was white and really big. They gave me a knife and told me to just stick it in and cut. I couldn’t do it. I am pretty fearless but I couldn’t stick the knife in this body. I went back to Terry and he kept asking why I hadn’t done it yet. I asked him to come back with me to do it himself and he said okay. But when we got there, he couldn’t do it either (laugh).

So what did you end up doing for the film?

HEADEY: It is latex. I told the effects guys that if they can make a wolf fly, they can make a fake rabbit.

Terry mentioned that when you were first cast, you were a bit too pretty for the part and they had to dirty you up a bit. While I am sure an actor relishes the challenge, does vanity come into play? This will be how audiences see you.

HEADEY: Not at all. I can honestly say that. The exciting thing is being able to totally change the way you look. I just did a short film with friends in New York and played the freakiest thing I have ever done. I loved it. I was this motel-dwelling strange entity who wore the most bizarre clothes I could ever imagine. It was great.

I was doing some research as to various characters you have played and there is a lesbian prostitute, a virginal heroine, an idealistic girlfriend, an upstairs maid and a sexually precocious schoolgirl. You have run the gamut to have these eclectic roles. Some actors need to reassure audiences with the same vein of a character but you seem all over the map.

HEADEY: Someone said to me the other day that I always play the same type of character. He said that I always play the vixen, which I disagreed with. I am very aware of that because I don’t want to be typecast. I do want to play diverse characters. Yes, there have been some similar characters because I am female and those roles in your mid twenties can be similar. But I do try and avoid it because I do find it more interesting to play various type roles.

How did you get started to begin with as an actor?

HEADEY: I was 17 when I got my first job. I had not gone to drama school. I was lucky and just fell into it. I was asked to audition for a film when I was 17 and did that.

Why did they ask?

HEADEY: They saw a photo of me. I took a stage play that we devised at my school down to London and they took a photo. I was asked to audition from that picture and I got the job from that.

There are not many women in this film and your co-star Monica Bellucci was really on a separate stage doing all her special effects stuff. So how was it with you and the boys?

HEADEY: It was a very boy’s atmosphere. At times, I just kept wondering where the female contingency was. Then I would hang out with the make-up girls.

Did the guys defer to you or treat you like one of them?

HEADEY: Not really. I don’t think they noticed. When you have all these boy boys on set, you could run in naked and I am not sure they would even notice.

Trust me, men will notice. One look at the environment you filmed in and it seems that make up didn’t have to pat you down too often with dust and mud. You could just roll around on the set. Do you like getting immersed in all of that?

HEADEY: Yes. From being a kid, when you can lose yourself in the elements, it just makes you happy. You can be joyful in the elements. Take me to the ocean and I can lose myself in that element as well.

Continued on page 2


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