Lena Heady may portray the cruel Queen Cersei Lannister on Game of Thrones, but in real life, she couldn’t be kinder. Today, the Making Game of Thrones blog published an open letter from Heady to her fans. She describes what she and GoT castmates Masie Williams (Arya Stark) and Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth) experienced when they visited the Cherso refugee camp in Greece.
Titled Ahmed, Headey tells the heart-wrenching story of a man who has literally lost everything, and yet who still had the grace and dignity to welcome Heady into his tent. Heady notes that, had she been born 20 years earlier in Palestine, she would have fallen in love with him. Ahmed’s wife was killed in the war, and he is trying to get to his sons in Holland.
"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."
Are you still with me? Have you composed yourself enough to continue? Okay. Heady goes on to talk about the children at the camp.
"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."
How can anyone read that and not feel a deep wellspring of emotion for these children and their families? Heady notes that the International Rescue Committee (IRC) is trying to provide theater space for the refugees, so those who wish to express their pain can. “This is a beautiful and necessary thing. Art is freedom.“
If you want to get involved and help those in need, please visit the IRC website.