MOVIE NEWS – The premiere of Thor: Love and Thunder is just around the corner, and it’s full of big stars in major roles, including Natalie Portman as Jane Foster and Christian Bale as the antagonist Gorr. The film almost saw the MCU debut of Game of Thrones star Lena Headey (Cersei), but her character had to be cut and the actress was sued for not paying commissions to her agency.

Variety reports that Headey is being sued by her former agency, British Troika (which will run as YMU from 2020) for $1.5 million for failing to pay commissions to Troika on several of her projects, including Thor: Love and Thunder. For Thor 4 alone, the star owes the agency at least $500,000, and Variety has confirmed that Lena Headey is not in Love and Thunder, meaning her character was cut from the film.

Headey joined Troika back in 2005 and left the agency 15 years later in the spring of 2020. In addition to Thor: Love and Thunder, the actress is also owed a hefty $300,000 for 9 Bullets (2022) and $650,000 for her Showtime TV movie (which is actually a pilot for an uncommissioned series) Rita (2020), both of which she stars in. The Troika is of course seeking to recoup the shortfall with interest, plus damages for breach of contract.

According to Variety, the actress has not signed any contract with the agency and her own agent, Michael Duff, who has joined Troika. Headey claims that Duff and her had only a verbal agreement in place since the late 1990s, and that Duff was never her exclusive agent, as the US Creative Artists Agency represented him. In this way, the star disputes that Troika could claim a commission on Thor: Love and Thunder or 9 Bullets, as he was not approached for these roles through Troika or Duff. And in the case of Rita, Lena Headey has claimed that she was only paid $325,000 for the pilot, of which she has already paid the agency $22,750.

So we won’t see Lena Headey in Thor: Love and Thunder, which hits cinemas on 7 July. Read the first reviews of the film here, and here’s the answer to the question: will Loki appear in the plot? The other Game of Thrones star, Emilia Clarke (Daenerys), will join the Marvel Universe in Secret Invasion.

Source: Variety