Lena Headey describes filming Game of Thrones waterboarding scene as ‘a really s*** time’

Co-star Hannah Waddingham previously called filming the scene ‘the worst day of my life’

Lena Headey has opened up about how difficult she found filming the waterboarding scene in Game of Thrones.

Earlier this year, co-star Hannah Waddingham revealed the distressing details behind one of the show’s scenes in which her character, Unella, is being tortured by Headey’s character, Cersei.

Waddingham described how she was “strapped to a wooden table with proper big straps for 10 hours”. She stated that “other than childbirth, it was the worst day of my life”.

Now, Waddingham’s scene partner has revealed what it was like to film the scene from her perspective.

She told Insider that Waddingham “had a really s*** time doing that scene”.

“I adore Hannah, she’s one of my favourite humans,” said Headey. The actor noted that the scene was filmed in such circumstances because showrunners wanted it to be “authentic”; however, the result was “a really, really tough day” on set.

The 47-year-old went on to commend her co-star for being a “trooper”.

She said: “People have different limits. People will go to different places. And so people will be like, ‘I don’t want to f***ing put myself in that position.’

“I totally respect whatever your boundaries are, but Hannah was a trooper. That was a long day of prune juice in your face.”

In an attempt to make the scene as painless for her co-star as possible, Headey admitted to purposefully aiming the “wine” around Waddingham’s face as opposed to directly on her mouth.

“I was like, ‘I’m just going to do a light salad dressing drizzle around her nun’s wimple,” she said.