--- title: Game of Thrones: Cersei's Walk of Shame Explained by Showrunner description: "It’s almost impossible not to feel for her because she’s a human and being tormented," showrunner David Benioff said canonical: https://time.com/3921548/game-of-thrones-cersei-walk-of-shame/ author: Nolan Feeney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-15T17:23:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:03:02.786Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: 'Game of Thrones' Showrunner Explains What Happened to Cersei og:description: "It’s almost impossible not to feel for her because she’s a human and being tormented" og:url: https://time.com/3921548/game-of-thrones-cersei-walk-of-shame/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt794fcc82038f9d31/69877841f887dc6411e89574/cersei-got.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: cersei-got og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Game of Thrones' Showrunner Explains What Happened to Cersei twitter:description: "It’s almost impossible not to feel for her because she’s a human and being tormented" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt794fcc82038f9d31/69877841f887dc6411e89574/cersei-got.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _Game of Thrones_ Showrunner Explains What Happened to Cersei  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Jun 15, 2015 5:23 PM UTC  Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister in Game of ThronesHBO  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Jun 15, 2015 5:23 PM UTC In one of the more brutal events of Sunday night’s _Game of Thrones_ finale, Cersei (Lena Headey) was forced to a perform a cruel Walk of Shame that saw her stripped naked and harassed by a vicious mob. “They’re trying to shame her,” showrunner David Benioff [told _Entertainment Weekly_ about the scene](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/06/15/game-thrones-walk-of-shame-cersei?xid=IFT-Trending). “They’re trying to humiliate her as much as they possibly can. It’s supposed to be like a scene from a nightmare. And the nightmare is you’re walking naked in front of a city of people. Walking and wearing underwear wouldn’t be as much of a nightmare.” The scene, in which Headey used a body double, does have some historical context — it was based on what happened to Jane Shore, a mistress of King Edward IV who in the 1400s was forced to undergo a similar walk through London (at least she had some clothing, however). Read the full interview [at EW.com](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/06/15/game-thrones-walk-of-shame-cersei?xid=IFT-Trending). ### See The Real-Life People Who Inspired Game of Thrones Characters  From left: Cersei and Margaret of Anjou HBO; Getty Images  From Left: Khaleesi and Queen Elizabeth I. HBO; Getty Images  From Left: Melisandre and Bloody Mary Helen Sloan—HBO; Getty Images  From left: Talisa Stark and Anne Boleyn. Helen Sloan—HBO; Getty Images  From left: Brienne of Tarth and Joan of Arc. HBO; DeAgostini—Getty Images  From left: Henry VIII and Robert Baratheon. HBO; Getty Images  From left: Joffrey and Caligula. HBO; De Agostini—Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3921548/game-of-thrones-cersei-walk-of-shame/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3921548/game-of-thrones-cersei-walk-of-shame/"},"headline":"Game of Thrones Showrunner Explains What Happened to Cersei","datePublished":"2015-06-15T17:23:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:03:02.786Z","description":"\"It’s almost impossible not to feel for her because she’s a human and being tormented\"","url":"https://time.com/3921548/game-of-thrones-cersei-walk-of-shame/","keywords":["Television","game of thrones"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt794fcc82038f9d31/69877841f887dc6411e89574/cersei-got.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt794fcc82038f9d31/69877841f887dc6411e89574/cersei-got.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"cersei-got","caption":"Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones","creditText":"HBO","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3921548/game-of-thrones-cersei-walk-of-shame/","name":"Game of Thrones Showrunner Explains What Happened to Cersei"}}]}] ```