Lena Headey Movies
One of the latest in an illustrious line of British actresses to graduate from the English Rose School of Acting into the realm of full-bodied contemporary roles, Lena Headey first came to the attention of audiences in 1992, when she played the younger version of Jeremy Irons' wife in Waterland. Hailing from Yorkshire, where she was born in 1976, Headey originally intended to be a hairdresser. Fate intervened, however, when her performance in a one-off show in the company of six school friends at the National Theatre caught the interest of a casting agent, who contacted her drama teacher and subsequently cast Headey in Waterland.Headey's turn as a sexually adventurous schoolgirl in the film led to her being cast as a sexually adventurous maid in Merchant Ivory's The Remains of the Day in 1993. More period adventure followed that same year in The Summer House, in which Headey played a quiet young lass being forced into a 1950s marriage with an insufferable mama's boy. After another stint as a corseted virgin in The Jungle Book (1994), Headey finally got to take part in the latter half of the 20th century in the BBC miniseries Loved Up (1995), in which she played an Ecstasy-saturated raver. That same year, she took part in another BBC mini, Band of Gold, in which she further distanced herself from her period past by portraying a lesbian prostitute. Over the next several years, Headey would appear in several projects like Posession, The Brothers Grimm, and The Red Baron, as well as TV series like Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Game of Thrones.
The actress returned to period drama in Marleen Gorris' adaptation of Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway (1997), which cast her as the younger version of the title character's best friend. More contemporary work subsequently came her way in Antonia Bird's Face (also 1997), a crime thriller in which she played the social worker girlfriend of Robert Carlyle's political idealist-turned-gangster. She also starred in the romantic fantasy The Man with Rain in His Shoes (1998) as one of the love interests (along with Penelope Cruz) of an out-of-work Scottish actor (Douglas Henshall).
After supporting turns in the lavish made-for-TV Merlin (1998) and Onegin (1999), the latter of which featured her as Liv Tyler's sister, Headey crossed over into the realm of Hollywood teen-oriented offerings with Gossip (2000), a college-set drama that cast her as one of three students who start a nasty rumor about two of their classmates (Kate Hudson and Joshua Jackson). Although the film was a bomb, Headey's career looked bright with a number of projects on the horizon. Included amongst them was Aberdeen (2000), a road movie set in Norway and Scotland that also starred Ian Hart, Charlotte Rampling, and Stellan Skarsgård. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi
- 2001
- R
British television comic Steve Coogan made his first bid for a big-screen career in this comedy, in which he plays Simon Garden, a singularly inept parole officer who has not had terribly good luck with his clients -- after many years on the job, only three of the former prisoners he's been looking after have avoided returning to a life of crime. Garden is transferred from his post in Blackpool to a new assignment in Manchester, and it isn't long before he finds himself in hot water. Garden happened to be on hand when Burton (Stephen Dellane), a crooked cop, murdered a drug dealer with whom he had been involved in a cocaine deal. Realizing he's in trouble, Burton rearranges the evidence so that Garden looks like the killer. A surveillance camera captured Burton's crime on tape, and now Garden must get his hands on the tape in order to clear his name. However, Burton has cleverly stashed the tape in a top security bank vault to keep it away from Garden, so the parole officer must stage a break-in to collect the evidence -- and he chooses as his accomplices George (Om Puri), Jeff (Steven Waddington), and Colin (Ben Miller), the three parolees who've stayed out of trouble until now. The Parole Officer also features Emma Williams as a former associate of Burton's who ends up helping out Garden, and cameos from Omar Sharif and Jenny Agutter. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Steve Coogan, Lena Headey, (more)
The blurry line between a rumor and the truth is stretched to the breaking point in this drama. Three arrogant and self-centered college students, Jones (Lena Headey), Derek (James Marsden), and Travis (Norman Reedus), are brought together for a class project, in which they decide to start a rumor and keep track of how it spreads. Looking for possible gossip material, they see Naomi (Kate Hudson), a girl known for her high-minded views on saving sex for marriage, drunkenly making out with Bo (Joshua Jackson) at a party. The three students begin passing around the rumor that Naomi became a victim of date rape later that evening, embroidering the truth with allegations that Bo forcibly seduced Naomi after she was too inebriated to put up a fight. Before long, the rumor makes its way back to Naomi herself, who suffered a black-out on the night in question after too much alcohol. Naomi panics, and convinced that the rumor is true, contacts the police, who assign Detective Kelly (Sharon Lawrence) to investigate the charges of rape filed against Bo. Featuring a cast of young actors best known for their work on television, Gossip was an appropriate first feature film for director Davis Guggenheim, who previously distinguished himself on such TV series as ER, NYPD Blue, and Party of Five. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eric Bogosian, Marisa Coughlan, (more)
Another member of the Fiennes family leaves a mark in the film business, as Martha Fiennes makes her big-screen directorial debut with a screen adaptation of the verse novel by Aleksander Pushkin, with her big brother Ralph Fiennes in the leading role. Onegin (Fiennes) is a blase man who has grown weary of the social whirl of his life in St. Petersburg in the 1820s. Onegin's wealthy uncle has recently passed on, bequeathing him a large estate in the country, where the financially embarrassed Onegin has now chosen to live. Onegin makes fast friends with his neighbor Lensky (Toby Stephens), who introduces Onegin to his fiancée Olga (Lena Headley). Olga in turn introduces him to her mother (Harriet Walker) and her younger sister, Tatyana (Liv Tyler). Onegin finds Tatyana interesting, and she is strongly infatuated with him, finding him coolly attractive and enjoying his straightforward way of expressing himself. Tatyana makes her feelings known to Onegin in a love letter, but he calmly rejects her advances. Lensky senses Tatyana's attraction to Onegin and talks to him about her; Lensky is shocked when Onegin says he regards her as unintelligent, and in a moment of anger Lensky challenges his friend to a duel. Neither man wants to kill the other, but both are too stubborn to back down, and Onegin ends up shooting Lensky, forcing him to flee to parts unknown. Six years later, a older and more humble Onegin re-encounters the married Tatyana and begs her for a second chance. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ralph Fiennes, Liv Tyler, (more)
Maria Ripoll made her feature directorial debut with this witty Spanish-British romantic comedy, set in London, where actor Victor (Scottish actor Douglas Henshall) is drunk and upset over former girlfriend Sylvia (Leana Headley) and her upcoming marriage in 48 hours to Dave (Mark Strong). In the rain, the wet and drunk Victor meets two Spanish sanitary workers, Don Miguel (Eusebio Lazaro) and Rafael (Gustavo Salmeron), and their Spanish poetry quotes cue special effects and time travel. Tossed back in time, Victor is now able to begin a relationship replay with Sylvia, so he immediately begins an effort to keep her from meeting Dave. The situation gets sticky, however, when he drops into a local pub and meets gorgeous barmaid Louise (Spanish actress Penelope Cruz). London locations show activities during the Notting Hill carnival. Shown at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Douglas Henshall, Lena Headey, (more)
Five criminals with varying degrees of experience are brought together and torn apart by a major robbery in this hard-edged British drama. Ray (Robert Carlyle) was once a leftist political activist whose ideals were dashed by England's increasing political conservatism, while his close friend Dave (Ray Winstone) is an East End hard man with a long history in crime. Ray and Dave plan a heist that they expect will leave them set for life: the robbery of a major London security firm. Ray and Dave's new associates are Ray's one-time cellmate Stevie (Steven Waddington); Jason (Damon Albarn), whose uncle is veteran mobster Sonny (Peter Vaughn); and Julian (Philip Davis), an unstable young criminal with more ambition than experience. After the break-in, the gang discovers that their haul was far less than expected, which leads to infighting among the thieves over who should get how much, with violence and betrayal as the inevitable result. Face marked the screen debut for Damon Albarn, already well-known in England as the lead singer for the successful rock band Blur. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Carlyle, Ray Winstone, (more)
- 1993
- R
Set near the end of 1899, as a new century is due to arrive and many people struggle to keep up with an era in flux, this drama follows the goings-on at a medical clinic operated by Professor Mandry (Charles Dance). Mandry appears somewhat progressive to his top student and right-hand man, Paul Reisner (Clive Owen), given his willingness to hire women and blacks - but Reisner's unchecked enthusiasm for Mandry soon fades when he discovers Mandry's hesitancy to acknowledge the importance of Felix's work on diabetic disorders, and his willingness to propagate eugenics via the enforced sterlization of impoverished British women. Eventually, their disagreements lead to the younger man's suspension; Paul then turns to Clara (Miranda Richardson), a free-thinking young woman working at the clinic who shows tremendous professional and emotional support to him. Soon they become lovers, but have disagreements of their own regarding medical ethics. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Charles Dance, Miranda Richardson, (more)
Based on the novel by Graham Swift, this drama follows the past and present crises of schoolteacher Tom Crick (Jeremy Irons), who attempts to resolve the problems in his own life and the apathy of his students by relating stories of his troubled childhood in the English Fens (a marshy region in Britain). ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jeremy Irons, Ethan Hawke, (more)
The true story of one of World War One's deadliest air aces comes to the screen in this historical drama. Manfred von Richthofen (Matthias Schweighöfer) becomes fascinated with flying when he's just a boy, and as a young man he joins the German army and becomes part of their budding air force. Flying in a squadron with his best friend, Werner Voss (Til Schweiger), von Richthofen is a pilot with a great talent for aerial battle, but he also has a sense of honor and fair play, and he and his cohorts often pay tribute to fallen opponents by dropping wreaths over the wreckage of their planes. When von Richthofen and Voss discover a Canadian pilot, Capt. Roy Brown (Joseph Fiennes), who has been stranded in German territory, they rescue the flier rather than leave an enemy soldier to die, and while bringing him to safety Manfred meets Käte Otersdorf (Lena Headey), a military nurse who has devoted her life to helping those wounded by war. Manfred becomes deeply infatuated with Käte, but while she is also taken with him, she cannot abide his open embrace of the blood sport of war, and even as he becomes one of Germany's most decorated pilots, downing countless enemy planes, he comes to understand the true horror of war and the consequences of his actions. Von Richthofen gains an even greater perspective on war when he encounters Capt. Brown one last time. Der Rote Baron (aka The Red Baron) was shot in both German- and English-language versions, with the same cast appearing in both. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Matthias Schweighöfer, Lena Headey, (more)
The uniformed but rebellious students of a distinguished all-girls school get an unexpected chance to raise a little hell as directors Oliver Parker and Barnaby Thompson set out to revive the characters created by comic artist Ronald Searle and made popular in the British film series that began with 1954's The Belles of St. Trinian's. When their beloved school is threatened with closure should the powers that be fail to raise the proper funds, the girls scheme to steal a priceless painting and use the profits to pull St. Trinian's out of the black. Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, and Mischa Barton star in a mischievous comedy penned by Piers Ashworth and Nick Moorcroft. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, (more)
Two men who have made a career out of spinning remarkable stories find themselves bringing them to life in this inventive fantasy inspired by the creators of some of the world's best-loved fairy tales. Will Grimm (Matt Damon) and his brother Jake Grimm (Heath Ledger) earn their living by traveling from village to village and vanquishing strange supernatural beasts that have been menacing the populace. Or at least that's what their clients think has been happening; as it happens, Will and Jake are confidence men who cleverly stage the ghostly attacks and then take payment for making the creatures they fabricated go away. One day, the brothers arrive in a town and offer to help its people drive away evil spirits, unaware that the community is bordered by a genuine enchanted forest, and that young girls in the village have been disappearing at a frightful rate. The Grimm Brothers must now learn how to deal with real magic, with the help of the lovely but fearless Angelika (Lena Headey). Directed by Terry Gilliam, The Brothers Grimm also stars Monica Bellucci, Peter Stormare, and Jonathan Pryce. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Matt Damon, Heath Ledger, (more)
Terror lurks deep beneath the surface of the Earth in this thriller. While on a dig in a Romanian forest, a group of scientists make a startling find -- they find a huge abbey, dating back to the 13th Century, which was built over the entrance to a massive network of subterranean caves. Eager to learn what lurks within the caves, the scientists discover to their peril that a large part of the cave system is under water. Undeterred, the remaining scientists hire a team of American spelunkers who are trained in exploring underwater caves, led by brothers Jack (Cole Hauser) and Tyler (Eddie Cibrian). Armed with new high-tech SCUBA gear that allows them to stay under water for a full 24 hours, Jack, Tyler, and the rest of their crew dive in to investigate the caves, but a mishap traps them in a cavern beneath the surface, and they soon discover they are not alone, as strange and bloodthirsty creatures make their presence known. The Cave also stars Morris Chestnut, Rick Ravanello, Piper Perabo, and Lena Headey. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Cole Hauser, Morris Chestnut, (more)
This adaptation of the novel by Virginia Woolf stars Vanessa Redgrave as Clarissa Dalloway, a woman in her mid-'50s living in London five years after the end of WWI. As Mrs. Dalloway prepares an elaborate dinner party at the home she shares with her husband, a prominent politician, she finds herself looking back on her life 30 years before, when as a young woman (played by (Natascha McElhone), she was in love with two different men -- the solid and safe Richard Dalloway (John Standing) and the exciting, free-spirited Peter Walsh (Michael Kitchen). Clarissa also recalls her close friendship with Sally (Lena Headey) as she wonders if she made the right choice in marrying Richard -- especially when Peter makes an unexpected appearance at her party. Mrs. Dalloway also finds herself moved in a way she never anticipated by the plight of Septimus Smith (Rupert Graves), a young man severely injured during the war whom she has never met. Mrs. Dalloway was directed by Marleen Gorris, whose previous credit was the international success Antonia's Line. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vanessa Redgrave, Natascha McElhone, (more)
- 1994
- PG
Twenty-seven years after turning one of Rudyard Kipling's best known works into a successful animated musical, Disney returned to the same source material for this live-action adventure, which hews slightly closer to the original source material. Mowgli (Sean Naeleli) is the five-year-old son of a wilderness guide who accompanies his father on a hunting expedition in the jungles of their native India. Mowgli becomes close friends with a British girl named Kitty (Joanna Wolff), whose parents commissioned the hunt, but when a tiger attacks their camp and kills Mowgli's father, the boy is lost in the confusion, and he's left to fend for himself. Mowgli is befriended by the animals of the jungle -- Baloo the bear, Bagheera the panther, and Grey Brother the wolf -- and they develop an unspoken sense of communication as the growing boy learns to live in the wilds. Years later, after growing to adulthood, Mowgli (now played by Jason Scott Lee) once again encounters Kitty (now played by Lena Headey), who is visiting India with her father, Col. Brydon (Sam Neill), a British officer stationed nearby, and her stuffy fiancée Capt. William Boone (Cary Elwes). Kitty and Mowgli recognize each other, and while his powers of speech are rusty, with the help of Dr. Plumford (John Cleese), Kitty and her father are able to return Mowgli to civilization. However, after spending most of his life in the jungle, Mowgli does not feel at home among other people, and while he deeply loves Kitty, he concedes to his rival for her affections. However, Boone and several of his men kidnap Mowgli when they learn that he has discovered a vast treasure in the jungle, and they try to force him to reveal its secrets while fending off the dangers of the jungle which Mowgli understands, but Boone and his men do not. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jason Scott Lee, Cary Elwes, (more)
Filmed with the usual meticulous attention to period and detail of films from Ismail Merchant and James Ivory, The Remains of the Day is based on a novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. Anthony Hopkins plays Stevens, the "perfect" butler to a prosperous British household of the 1930s. He is so unswervingly devoted to serving his master, a well-meaning but callow British lord (James Fox), that he shuts himself off from all emotions and familial relationships. New housekeeper Miss Kenton (Emma Thompson) tries to warm him up and awaken his humanity. But when duty calls, Stevens won't even attend his own dying father's last moments on earth. The butler also refuses to acknowledge the fact that his master is showing signs of pro-Nazi sentiments. Disillusioned by Hitler's duplicity, the master dies an embittered man, and only then does Stevens come to realize how his own silence has helped bring about this sad situation. Years later, regretting his lost opportunities in life, he tries once more to make contact with Miss Kenton, the only person who'd ever cared enough to seek out the human being inside the butler's cold veneer. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, (more)
- 1993
- NR
Martin Sherman adapted Alice Thomas Ellis' novel for this comedy about a suburban Englishwoman who's about to settle on marriage with her mother-dominated next door neighbor until everyone's comfortable life is disrupted by a visit from her exotic and flamboyant friend Lili (Jeanne Moreau, in a scene-stealing performance). ~ Nicole Gagne, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jeanne Moreau, Joan Plowright, (more)
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