Lena Headey: Game of Thrones actor says refusing sex with Harvey Weinstein hurt her career

Game of Thrones actor Lena Headey says rejecting sex with Harvey Weinstein could have harmed her career.

The British star, who plays Cersei Lannister in the HBO series, told The Sunday Times that her refusal to have sex with the disgraced film producer saw a lack of roles offered to her by ths studio Miramax.

She said: “After he was discovered to be a slimeball, on a grander scale than me just knowing it, I did start thinking, ‘F***, maybe because I didn’t shag him, that’s impacted a decade of my working life’, because I did two jobs for Miramax [the film company founded by Weinstein] before those incidents, and after that there was nothing.”

Headey previously recounted two experiences she alleges she had with Weinstein in the wake of the scandal that saw him face dozens worth of sexual harassment and assault allegations, all of which he has denied.

She claims that the first time she met Weinstein was at the Venice Film Festival in 2005 where, after taking her for a walk by the water, he “made some suggestive comment and gesture”.

Headey ran into Weinstein in Los Angeles years later where she alleges he kept asking her questions about her love life. Headey said that, when Weinstein invited her to his hotel room to show her a script, the “energy shifted”.

The actor says she said to the producer, “I’m not interested in anything other than work, please don’t think I got in [the lift] with you for any other reason.”

She claims that he later whispered in her ear: “Don’t tell anyone about this, not your manager, not your agent.”

Headey will reprise her role in the final season of Game of Thrones, which begins on HBO and Sky Atlantic in April. A season eight theory currently doing the rounds suggests her character Cersei may be the surprise saviour of Westeros in the battle with the White Walkers.

She will next be seen in in family comedy Fighting with My Family.