Gillian Anderson Turned Down a Big 'Game of Thrones' Role for This Reason

Game of Thrones faced innumerable challenges within its first season, as the dense material of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novel series was challenging to translate into a compelling dramatic story. Beyond the efforts needed to explain the rules of Westeros to average viewers and pull off several major action sequences, the first season of Game of Thrones had to introduce fascinating, dynamic characters that audiences would be willing to invest in over a prolonged period of time. Few performances on Game of Thrones were as instantly iconic as Lena Headey's, even if the show’s writing may have failed her in the end. Headey’s performance remained one of the show's most nuanced. But, as great as Headey was in the role, it was almost Gillian Anderson who was cast as Cersei Lannister.