This Article is From Jun 19, 2015

Game of Thrones: Meet The Woman Who Actually Walked the Streets Naked

Game of Thrones: Meet The Woman Who Actually Walked the Streets Naked

A still from Cersei Lannister's 'walk of shame' in the Game of Thrones

New Delhi: The dust around the finale episode of the fifth season of Game of Thrones shows no signs of settling yet, and in the wake of the stir created by Queen Cersei's naked 'walk of shame' through King's Landing, an actress named Rebecca Van Cleave has been revealed to have been the nude body double in the scene. In the finale, Cersei Lannister is sentenced to a public penititential walk, naked and with her head shorn, for adultery. The scene has primpted as much viewer comment as the unexpected death of Jon Snow, one of the show's leading and most popular characters.

In an interview to Entertainment Weekly, Ms Van Cleave has spoken at length about standing in as the nude version of Lena Headey, the actress who plays Cersei Lannister on the show, in a gruelling scene that involved walking through crowded streets while being pelted with food and simulated bodily fluids by angry, abusive onlookers.

Ms Van Cleave told Entertainment Weekly, "It was one of the scariest, most wonderful, most gratifying experiences I could have imagined. I never in a million years would have thought I would be in Dubrovnik surrounded by hundreds of extras and crew members throwing food at me, but it was amazing." Dubrovnik, Croatia is where Game of Thrones is filmed and the scene was shot last October amid heavy security. Cell phones were banned and everyone involved had to sign confidentiality agreements. There was also a struggle with permission as the 'walk of shame' originates at what is the Church of St Nicholas in Dubrovnik, which refused to allow a nude scene to be filmed on its premises. The crew were eventually permitted to film on the streets of Dubrovnik with a set built in place of the church.

Lena Headey, whose performance as Cersei Lannister has received rave reviews, praised her body double in the interview to Entertainment Weekly. "If somebody is brave enough to do this, I applaud it," she said. She opted to use a double because she was pregnant at the time of filming and also because she wanted to focus on the emotions in the scene. There has been a certain amount of criticism of her decision, but Ms Van Cleave defends her by saying, "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."

Ms Headey filmed the scene wearing a beige shift and Ms Van Cleave filmed it naked. Their performances were later welded together by CGI, with Ms Headey's head placed atop Ms Van Cleave's body. Entertainment Weekly quotes Rebecca Van Cleave as saying, "Lena was so good about walking beside me and guiding me into what Cersei was thinking and the movements. We were playing tag team - 'You're it!' - and trying to make light of the fact we're all covered in everything and going through this together."

Watching herself on TV last week was "surreal and emotional," says Ms Van Cleave, adding, "I had a good little cry afterward. Lena and I put so much into that scene and to see it all come together was really special."

Rebecca Van Cleave has been acting on stage and minor screen roles since she was five but has largely been anonymous till now. She hopes that her next work will have her 'head in it' and has thanked both Lena Headey and the show's producers on Twitter:
 
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