Lena Headey Opens Up on the Negative Impact Rejecting Sex With Harvey Weinstein Had on Her Career

Following the monumental, ongoing slew of sexual assault charges against Harvey Weinstein, Lena Headey of Game of Thrones recently opened up and shared her own personal connection to the Weinstein case.

The British actress, who plays Cersei Lannister in the acclaimed HBO series, told The Sunday Times that she believes turning Weinstein down meant a near-end to her career.

“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,'" Headey said in retrospect. "Because I did two jobs for Miramax before those incidents, and after that there was nothing.”

Headey described her first incident with Weinstein at the Venice Film Festival in 2005, when Weinstein "made some suggestive comment and gesture" after taking Headey for a walk by the water.

Following the initial incident, Headey recounted running into Weinstein again, this time in Los Angeles. After pressing her repeatedly about her love life, he invited her to his hotel room to read a script, where the actress says the "energy shifted."

“I’m not interested in anything other than work, please don’t think I got in [the lift] with you for any other reason," the actress said to Weinstein while riding the elevator to his hotel room, to which she said Weinstein replied through a whisper in her ear, “Don’t tell anyone about this, not your manager, not your agent.”

More than 80 women in Hollywood and around the world have opened up about the lewd and illegal acts of the ex-producer. Lena Headey's story joins the ranks of the many courageous survivors who have brought Weinstein's horrendous behavior to light.