Lena Kathren Headey born 3 October 1973 is a British actress She gained international recognition and acclaim for her portrayal of Cersei Lannister on the HBO epic fantasy drama series Game of Thrones 20112019 for which she received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations and a Golden Globe Award nomination Headey made her film debut in the mystery drama Waterland 1992 She continued to work steadily in British and American films and on television before gaining further recognition with her lead performances in the films The Brothers Grimm 2005 and 300 2007 Her other film credits include The Remains of the Day 1993 The Jungle Book 1994 Mrs Dalloway 1997 Ripleys Game 2002 Imagine Me You 2005 Dredd 2012 The Purge 2013 300 Rise of an Empire 2014 Pride and Prejudice and Zombies 2016 and Fighting with My Family 2019 Outside of film Headey starred as Sarah Connor in the science fiction television series Terminator The Sarah Connor Chronicles 20082009 and had a recurring role as Amelia Hughes in the animated web series Infinity Train 20192021 She provided voices for the roleplaying video game Risen 2009 and the video game tiein film Kingsglaive Final Fantasy XV 2016 as well as the animated series Danger Mouse 20152017 and Trollhunters 20172018 and puppetanimated series The Dark Crystal Age of Resistance 2019