Cersei Lannister's Walk of Shame during Sunday night's episode of Game of Thrones was not only one of the most memorable moments of the Season 5 finale but also of the whole season. The six-minute sequence showed Cersei having all of her hair cut off, being stripped and then being forced to walk for miles through a rowdy crowd in King's Landing.
Back when the scene was filmed in October, it was reported that Lena Headey, the Emmy-nominated actress who portrays Cersei on Game of Thrones, would not be doing her own nude scene but use a body double instead. That actress was Rebecca Van Cleave, and she recently revealed to Entertainment Weekly how that scene came together.
The scene took three days to film in Dubrovnik, Croatia last October. Van Cleave, who was one of more than 1,000 actresses that applied to be Headey's body double, filmed the scene nude while Headey wore a beige shift during her performance. The show's visual effects team then merged the two figures together.
"The first time I took off the robe there was all this anticipation building up to it," Van Cleave told Entertainment Weekly. "But it's such an emotional experience for Cersei, you almost check out of the fact that you're nude. You're so in touch with the scene and what you're going for."
What may surprise you is that one of the worst parts about filming the nude scene wasn't actually the nudity. Having stuff thrown at her, especially those chamber pots being dumped out, was especially unpleasant.
Van Cleave watched the finished scene with her performance combined with Headey's for the first time when the Season 5 finale aired last Sunday. She told Entertainment Weekly that it was "very surreal and emotional," and she "had a good little cry afterward." Van Cleave also had some words for those who criticized Headey for not performing her own nude scene.
"I personally don't agree with anybody who says having a body double detracts from the scene," Van Cleave told Entertainment Weekly. "Lena put her heart and soul into that scene. It should all be about the finished product, not about whose body was where and and whose head was where."
Head over to Entertainment Weekly for the full story.
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