“Game of Thrones” star Lena Headey is starring in a film called “The Floods” as a British immigration officer and it’s playing a role in her real life, too.
The 43-year-old actress, best known as Cersei Lannister on HBO’s hit series, told The Guardian that her latest project has made her realize how refugees are being treated in the UK while seeking safety.
“I understand there are safety issues, and screenings for security, but it could be so much more human and compassionate,” Heady told the British publication. “It’s horrendous that after the journeys that these refugees go through, they are then treated immediately with suspicion and fear. I get it, this is a crisis with so many levels, but we have also lost sight of the fact it’s not a ‘problem,’ it’s people, it’s other human beings. And we’re dehumanizing them.”
Heady added that Brexit has also prompted her to getting involved with the film, which was inspired by an incident in which 35 immigrants from Afghanistan were discovered in a shipping container in Essex in 2014, with some dying during the ordeal.
“If we don’t have a shift where we recognize these people for who they were before they were forced to leave their countries — people who are educated with family values, who had careers and homes — then we are going to be in trouble, we really are. We are going to grow an absolute fury, you could feel it.”
Heady is also aware that she’s may receive backlash for speaking out publicy about the refugee crisis as a successful star.
“People look at actors who speak out and say ‘oh well, it’s so easy for them,’” she explained. “There are a lot of people who are saying ‘it’s all right for you, you champagne socialist’ but that’s f—–g bollocks, I’m just a human being with a conscience.”
“My kids need to know that I gave a sh-t — that’s what drives me most,” added Heady. “I’m a jobbing actor, this is what I do to make cash, but sometimes I do projects where I make no cash because it’s about making something that will hopefully get people talking.”