Game of Thrones‘s Cersei Lannister is an evil, manipulative dictator who doesn’t back down from getting what is hers, but the actress who portrays her on the show, Lena Headey, is far from being anything like her character. During one of her recent visits to the refugee camps in Greece along with fellow actors Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) and Liam Cunningham (Ser Davos), she experienced a lot of things that would tug at one’s heartstrings. Lena shared an open letter on the Making of Game of Thrones blog with her fans, where she recounted two particularly touching experiences she had while at the Cherso camp in Greece.
In the letter, she revealed the story of a man named Ahmed, expressing how heartbreaking it was considering that Ahmed’s family, sans his wife who was killed in the war, is in Holland where he’s trying to reach them. She followed it up with another tale of children who wrote a play about the war in Syria, and it’s sure to leave anyone in tears. Read excerpts below:
‘He is beautifully turned out. A still handsome man who mourns for the sad changes in his country. I felt like our chests were wide open and our hearts embraced as we stood under the blue umbrella which shaded us from the blazing sun. He took my head in his hands and kissed the top of it, telling me he only kisses his children this way. He told me my face was calm and made him feel peaceful. At which point my tears fell and I embraced him as any of us would with someone we love.’
She then narrated the play they watched:
While at Cherso, we watched a play that one of the girls had written about the war in her homeland of Syria. Haya had arrived at the camp and recruited a boy and 4 other girls. They sang a childhood rhyme accompanied by her mum’s iPhone. They sang and laughed and then pointed to a picture they had drawn of a fighter plane. They then crouched on the ground with their hands over their ears and began to cry. It was one of the most moving things I’ve ever witnessed. Haya then took the role of mother and pulled the children close. She dusted off their toys and tried to return them but the children were too sad and threw the toys down. This was the end of Haya’s play. It didn’t matter I speak not a word of Arabic. We witnessed the horror these kids have lived through and saw first-hand that kids are resilient.
It’s touching to know that the stars of our favourite show don’t hold back when it comes to extending a hand to the victims of war. You can read the entire open letter here.
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