Lena Headey:
Sex and Sensibility
From the other side of the Atlantic comes talent in the form of British beauty Lena Headey. Stylishly merging American cinema with complex movie-going fare, the roles in which Headey has portrayed have been anything but run of the mill. From period pieces and Disney films to adult-themed stories and heavy dramas; Headey has brought realism and intrigue to all of the diverse characters she has portrayed.
The brunette, Bermuda-born, albeit Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England-raised, 29-year-old actress appears in two flicks during the summer of 2005, BROTHERS GRIMM and THE CAVE. Both of which demonstrate how captivating Headey's subtle, yet luminous on-screen presence can be.
Headlined by mega-watt actors, Matt Damon and Heath Ledger, BROTHERS GRIMM, is director Terry Gilliam's big budget reenactment of the circa de mid 1700s, sibling epic adventure. Rather than recount the classic fairy tale, remember the story where the bros. sell the family cow for a handful of magic beans, Gilliam's intention is to transform the muddling duo into likeable con artists who travel throughout Germany. As Angelika, Headey plays a villager, who in her efforts to aide the brothers' -Wilhelm or Will (Damon) and Jacob or Jake (Ledger)-attempts to thwart the evil queen's efforts to kill all the little girls, ultimately becomes the object of both brothers' affection.
And, in the dry, con-conclusive tone only a fellow Brit uses, one online commentator favorably remarked, "Headey as Angelika in the BROTHERS GRIMM gives an understated -yet strong performance."
Headey, not necessarily one to be overly impressed with anyone, did appreciate working in concert with the visionary director Terry Gilliam (FEAR AND LOATHING LAS VEGAS, BRAZIL and 12 MONKEYS) and, quite notably, the only non-British member of Monty Python. Due to her growing reputation as a fine actress and Sony Pictures' interest in having her sign-on to do the project, Headey was sent a copy of the script to consider playing the part of Angelika.
The chance to play opposite two of Hollywood's most bankable actors of the younger set (and have both fall in love with her character no less), is the tipping point that ultimately prompted Headey's return to the US (though the film actually shot in Prague, Czechoslovakia) and involvement in American cinema. An apparently a wise roll of the dice, as during the film's opening weekend, the BROTHERS GRIMM topped the box office charts with more than $5.2 million dollars in ticket sales.
In the second of Headey's summer releases, THE CAVE, a studio-made, sci-fi | adventure film, she plays an American diver named Katherine who as part of a team sent over to Bucharest, Romania, helps to explores an ancient cave discovered by a team of scientists during their investigation of the ruins of a 13th century Abbey. Believing the cave to house an expansive eco-system, the scientists feel certain there is an important mystery lurking within its midst.
Though apparently, shooting on location in Bucharest, Romania, did not necessarily have the glamour of other sexy film locations, it did offer Headey the welcome chance to bond | commiserate with co-stars and crew.
Even though she now has two mainstream films out in theatres, Headey's face still does not tend to draw immediate name association. However, American movie-goers are beginning to recognize her on-screen presence.
Surprising then is to learn that by no stretch of the imagination is Headey a newcomer to the entertainment industry. Rather, she has been working more than 13 years as a working professional actress and, in the process, has amassed an impressive acting portfolio with roles in more than 30 features, many of which directly aligned her with some of the industry's most acclaimed acting talents including: Michael Caine, Penelope Cruz, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Ralph Fiennes, Gwyneth Paltrow, Emma Thompson, Liv Tyler, Penelope Cruz ; and the latest pairing of Matt Damon and Heath Ledger.
With original fantasies of becoming a hairdresser, while a student of the legendary English Rose School of Acting, Headey's vocational aspirations took flight in an entirely different direction. Performing in a theatre show with school friends, Headey caught the interest of a casting agent who swiftly cast her as a sexually adventurous schoolgirl in WATERLAND, 1992, as the younger version of the wife to Jeremy Iron's character.
And, upon receiving raves for her multi-layered performance, she was subsequently cast as a sexually adventurous maid in Merchant Ivory's REMAINS OF THE DAY, 1993, (with Emma Thompson and Sir Anthony Hopkins); and then she reverted back to more period pieces, THE SUMMER HOUSE, a story set in the 1950's about a young girl forced to participate in an arranged marriage; and Walt Disney's box-office success, JUNGLE BOOK, 1994, a spirited, live action adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's classic children's tale.
Not one to remain stagnant in her career, Headey went from the colorful Disney flick to a succession of back-to-back hard-core roles on two separate BBC mini-series: LOVED UP, 1995, as an Ecstasy-enhanced rave enthusiast and A BAND OF GOLD, 1995, as a lesbian prostitute. These racy productions were followed up by the European films, MRS. DALLOWAY, 1998; and the romantic fantasy, THE MAN WITH RAIN IN HIS SHOES, 1998, with Penelope Cruz.
And continuing to make very unique acting choices: Headley then came to back to Hollywood for the big-budget made-for-television, MERLIN, 1998; and as Liv Tyler's sister in the dramatic ONEGIN, 1999, which also starred Ralph Fiennes. Then it was the period in her career which almost every break-through actress must pass – being cast in a Hollywood-style teenage movie the likes of: GOSSIP, 2000, with trendsetters Kate Hudson and Joshua Jackson.
Next-up, the backdrops of Norway and Scotland enhanced ABERDEEN, 2001, and the memorable characters portrayed by Charlotte Rampling and Stellan Skarsgård.
One enthusiastic Amazon.com reviewer described her performance as the talented yuppie with a host of skeletons in her closet as "remarkable."
POSSESSIONS, 2002, starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhart, was director Neil LaBute's departure from insensitive theatre-style dramas. The film jumped back and forth in time to tell a well-buried love story.
RIPLEY'S GAME, 2003, the less Hollywood version of the TALENTED MR. RIPLEY with Matt Damon, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow (Hollywood is a small world after all) and more John Malkovich-rendition of the Patricia Highsmith's novel about the famous master impersonator | murderer Tom Ripley, presented Headey in a minor, yet pivotal role.
And keep an eye out Headley's third film to be released later this year, a British comedy entitled, CLICK. Featuring British actors: Matthew Good, Darren Boyd and Anthony Head, the film also features actress Piper Perabo, Headey's co-star in THE CAVE.
Drawn to well-defined roles with serious substance, Headey, an engaging mix of beauty, whimsy and intellect, having already captivated the Brothers Grimm, has apparently now set her sights on seducing American audience members....
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| Nancy Simon |
A Chicago-based freelance writer and film enthusiast, Nancy has an insatiable curiousity and knack for picking out talented, promising individuals.
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