Game of Thrones alum Lena Headey boards new sci-fi show

Lena Headey has been officially been cast in the Spectrum Originals and AMC’s adaptation of Hugh Howey’s sci-fi novel Beacon 23.

It’s been a while since Game of Thrones star Lena Headey graced our television screens as Cersei Lannister, but she’s returning to genre television in the adaptation of Hugh Howey’s Beacon 23. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Headey will also executive produce the series through her production company Peephole Productions.

Coming from Spectrum Originals and AMC, Beacon 23 takes place in a post-apocalyptic 23rd century, where beacons monitor the passage of ships through outer space. The show “follows two people whose fates become entangled after they find themselves trapped together at the end of the known universe.” One of these people is a beacon keeper, while the other is Headey’s character, Aster, who “could be friend or foe” given her secretive personality.

That sounds like the perfect fit for Headey, who successfully portrayed Cersei’s manipulative character as she maneuvered her way onto the Iron Throne. In fact, Katherine Pope, the head of Spectrum Originals, said the company immediately thought of Headey for the role. “We had exactly one person in mind when thinking about who could play Aster — who could bring the strength, the vulnerability and the brilliance to Zak’s complex character?” Pope asked. “No one but Lena Headey.”

Halan, the beacon keeper stuck at the edge of the galaxy with Aster, has yet to be cast.

Beacon 23 will be helmed by Zak Penn, who previously worked on The Avengers and Ready Player One, so he’s no stranger to the extraordinary. The show is slated to premiere exclusively on Spectrum, but it will debut on AMC’s platforms nine months later.

There’s no set release date for Beacon 23 yet, but as casting is still underway, it will likely be a few years before fans enter this sci-fi world. In the meantime, Headey is working on several other projects, including a reboot of Masters of the Universe, where she’ll voice Evil-Lyn.

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