Game of Thrones star Lena Headey has confessed how astonished she was that fans were upset over her character Cersei Lannister's nude 'Walk of Atonement.'

Cersei, one of the show's most ruthless power brokers, is introduced to viewers in the throes of an affair with her warrior brother Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau).

When her city of King's Landing falls into the grip of a religious sect called the Faith Militant, her incest is exposed and she is forced to march naked through the streets as hordes of townspeople hurl garbage and excrement at her and hiss: 'Shame!'

At the time, the scene was greeted with a burst of online outrage over the fact a strong female character had been debased by a sexual humiliation ritual.

Then it emerged that Headey had used a body double for the sequence - eliciting what she describes as a backlash that confounded her.

'I was really shocked by the anger, by this idea that I’d duped the audience,' the 52-year-old actress shared in a new profile for the Telegraph.

The Daily Mail has contacted Headey's representative for comment.

Game of Thrones star Lena Headey has confessed how astonished she was that fans were upset over her character Cersei Lannister's nude 'Walk of Atonement.'

'I was really shocked by the anger, by this idea that I’d duped the audience,' the 52-year-old actress shared in a new profile for the Telegraph; pictured at the 2019 Emmys

'But by that point everyone knew [the cast], it was insane simply going anywhere, and I was with 3000 extras,' added the 300 alumna.

'Acting is a joy but it requires a lot of you. I wouldn’t have been able to do the emotional part of the job; I’d have been in full on defensive mode.'

In general, she reacted differently to the show's unrestrained sex scenes than did her younger female co-stars, such as Emilia Clarke, whose leading character Daenerys Targaryen is the victim of a brutal rape early in the series.

'I was so desperate to be the most professional actor I could be that I'd be like: "Yeah, sure," for anything they threw at me,' Clarke said in an interview for the show's behind-the-scenes book Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon. 'I'll just cry about it in the bathroom later, whatever, you won't know.'

Gemma Whelan, who played Yara Greyjoy, remarked: 'They used to just say: "When we shout action, go for it!" and it could be a sort of frenzied mess,' via the Guardian.

When Headey was asked if she harbored similar sentiments, she replied: 'No, because by that point I’d been through the wringer. I could stand up for myself.'

She added: 'I’m not saying those actresses couldn’t, but they were much younger and more vulnerable, and had far less experience of being in front of people and the camera and performing. Whereas I was of an age where I’d just t** about and diffuse anything uncomfortable with idiocy.'

A year after the Walk of Atonement aired, she reflected that 'some people thought I was less of an actress because I didn't get my t**s out,' to Entertainment Weekly.

Cersei, one of the show's most ruthless power brokers, is introduced to viewers in the throes of an affair with her warrior brother Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau)

When her city of King's Landing falls into the grip of a religious sect called the Faith Militant, her incest is exposed and she is forced to march naked through the streets

'It was really a bit shocking. I've done nudity. I'm not averse to it. But I know I'm a very emotional actor and I get really driven by that. In order to do my job, I allow myself to be really vulnerable,' Headey explained.

'I don't know any other way to do my job. Things really affect me. And the thought of being naked for three days and trying to contain her in the way she would be I think I would feel very angry. I didn't want to be angry. I don't think Cersei would be angry. I did what I thought she would do, emotionally,' she said.

Headey hailed her body double Rebecca van Cleave as 'wonderful,' observing that she was 'able to contain herself and be naked' in spite of the fact she 'found it very difficult, obviously. It's not a natural thing to do.'

However she firmly denied the steadily gathering fan theory that she had personally handpicked van Cleave - who is more than a decade her junior - because she 'demanded to have a hot body' onscreen.

'In reality, I said: "If somebody will do this, I'll have no choice about it. Whatever you decide." I had no judgment in that or desire to be involved,' she maintained.

The Bermuda-born actress insisted that 'none of it is about vanity for me - none of it- otherwise I couldn't do it. It would be a hindrance.'

When Headey initially faced blowback for having availed herself of a stand-in, van Cleave publicly sprang to the actress' defense.

'I personally don’t agree with anybody who says having a body double detracts from the scene. Lena put her heart and soul into that scene,' van Cleave said.

'It should all be about the finished product, not about whose body was where and whose head was where,' she maintained to Entertainment Weekly.