Lena Headey Returns To ‘300: Rise Of An Empire’ To Avenge Her Slain Husband

Lena Headey is one of the few cast members to return in 300: Rise Of An Empire, after producers figured out a way to make a sequel to the very successful Zack Snyder original 300, which had an opening weekend of $70 million in 2007.

For Lena Heady, the 300 casting brought her the notoriety she was seeking and she became a more recognizable name, which helped her land a role in the immensely popular miniseries Game Of Thrones.

300: Rise Of An Empire is based on the Frank Miller graphic novel Xerces and uses the same stunning visual effects that the original used.

Lena Headey reprises her role as Queen Gorgo, under the direction of Noam Murro — Zack Snyder is a writer and producer this time around.

She now has doubts about joining the Greek hero Themistocles to avenge her dead husband Leonidas (Gerard Butler), who was one of 300 Spartans killed by the Persian army in the ancient battle of Thermopylae.

Another big name that is not back this time — due to being killed in battle — is Oscar nominated actor Michael Fassbender (12 Years A Slave), who played Stelios.

Fans weren’t the only ones wondering how the heck there was going to be a sequel after the bloody slaughter of all the main heroes, Lean Headey couldn’t figure it out either:

“At first, it was like, what are they going to do? Everyone is dead. Are we talking Zombie Resurrection 300 for the sequel?”

In order to bring back the story, producers decided to focus the new film on another battle, which took place a few days later on water.

Director Naom Murro said of the 40-year-old Bermuda-born actress in a recent interview, “Lena is the glue to both stories.”

Given the opportunity to return for the “sequel”, Lena Headey says she couldn’t pass it up:

“It made logical sense that my character would be there and I had fun in the first movie.”

With a mostly male cast, in which actors wear next to nothing on a daily basis, Lena Heady first thought it quite distracting, but by the third day it was getting old, “I appreciated the work they put in. And it’s quite lovely. But by Day 3, you’re hoping for a Christmas sweater to change it up.”

300: Rise Of An Empire with Lena Headey, Sullivan Stapleton, Eva Green, and with appearances by Gerard Butler and Michael Fassbender opens in theaters on March 7.

[Images via Warner Bros.]