Lena Headey is a British actress of theatre and film who is best known for her appearances in The Brothers Grimm, Possession, and The Remains of the Day. Headey is starring as Queen Gorgo, heroic Spartan woman in the period drama 300, by director Zack Snyder.

She was born Lena Headey on October 3, 1973, in Bermuda, where her father, a Yorkshire police cadet, was sent shortly before she was born. She was raised in Bermuda living on the ocean, until she was 5. Back in England, she was brought up in Yorkshire, before moving to London in her teens. Headey had not gone to drama school before she became an actress. At the age of 17, Headey's performance in a one-off show in the company of six school friends caught the attention of a casting agent, who took a photo and asked her to audition. Eventually, Headey was cast in Waterland, which became her big-screen debut. She honed her natural acting talent while filming and also took archery classes and horse training. She also took boxing in clubs in south London, where a former boxer had been teaching her to spar. During her film career, spanning over 15 years, Headey showed her range in a variety of roles, playing characters from Amazon-type warriors and action-minded women in The Cave and The Brothers Grimm, to a lesbian lover in Imagine Me & You.

Headey's film career took her all over the world. She was in India for the filming of The Jungle Book, then in St. Petersburg, Russia, for filming Onegin, and in Norway for filming of Aberdeen. In 2005 Headey was filming in Romania and in Mexico, then spent four months in Prague, Czech Republic, where a forest was designed and built for filming The Brothers Grimm, with Matt Damon and Heath Ledger. During 2006 Headey was in Canada for the filming of 300, then went to locations in Bulgaria for shooting The Contractor, then she went to locations in Germany and in Czech Republic for filming The Red Baron. She is also billed as Norina in the upcoming biopic Vivaldi.

Outside of her acting profession, Lena Headey continues taking her boxing lessons in London. She is a vegetarian, and also remains loyal to yoga, which she discovered during her work in India. Headey has never been back to her birthplace in Bermuda, she is currently residing in London, England.



Had a tattoo on her arm saying 'Jason' in Thai. Was engaged to Johnny Cicco. Her father, a police officer, was sent to train in Bermuda shortly before Headey was born.