You can't take anything for granted for a second otherwise you trip up. More than anything, I believe life is all about timing. I know certainly every situation in my life has been like "why now?" and it's a test or a beautiful moment. That's why life is so gorgeous.

For every film I’ve always relied on an ability to access real feelings. I don’t know any other way. That’s probably why some directors think I’m too intense. (So did she feel obliged to fall in love with Piper on the set of Imagine Me & You?) Yes. I think (muses Headey, a tad hesitant.) Kissing her was very weird. We didn’t even have the luxury of being drunk. It’s easy to scream and shout, but to actually show intimate love in front of a camera is very hard. And almost impossible when you don’t feel something for the other actor. But the chemistry was nice between Piper and me. We’re old mates. We spent months together in wetsuits in Bucharest making The Cave.

damn, what is lena doing to you guys?  actually I totally know and understand what she's doing to you guys, she does it to everyone she meets, and  - as your question proves - many she hasn't yet.  I can tell you that lena is everything you would want her to be, and more.  george orwell said that by 40 we get the face that we deserve, that physiognomically we become who we are inside.  that is why lena is so beautiful now, and why she will only get more lovely as the years go by.  she is, as you say, a truly good person, and the world is a far better place for her presence in it.

the main reason luce looks so stylish is that lena is so stylish.  many of the clothes she wears in the movie are hers - the boots, the jeans, the hat (which I seem to remember is from diesel), everything on the bench at the end, probably quite a bit more - and the rest she worked on very closely with consolata, our wonderful designer.  

lena is as good inside as out - part of why she's so beautiful - so there are no horror stories of filming with her.  she did attempt to quit smoking towards the end of the shoot, which I refused to allow for fear that nicotine withdrawal would darken her habitually sunny demeanor.  so she quit when the movie ended instead.  just one of the many reasons why she was an utter joy to direct; she even carried on smoking when I asked her to.

why did I cast lena?  watch a scene of hers, any scene, you can see all the reasons.  she's good, and kind, and beautiful, and funny, and smart, very smart.  I don't think I gave her a single note all the way through filming.  she knew the character, knew what she wanted to do, and did it flawlessly.  

the toughest scene - the back room in the flowershop. the girls were fine, I was the one deeply embarrassed. and the easiest - anything (else) with lena headey.

but lena was in the first thing I ever wrote, I've known her ever since and firmly believe there walks no finer on this earth, so it was an easy decision.

I've know Lena for years. she was in Loved Up, the first thing I ever wrote. She's beautiful, truthful, and hilarious, without vanity or affectation, exceptionally clever.

Lena and Piper had a ball throughout this. My main problem on set - and it's a high class problem - was stopping them laughing long enough to say the actual lines. All you can do is hope that some of that genuine chemistry and affectation translates onto the screen.

I'd work again with piper and lena, together or separately, in a heartbeat.  you'd have to ask them if they'd want to work with me, but my life and my film were hugely enriched by their presence. so yes, is the answer to your question.  a big thumping yes.

And yes, the scene in the back room of the flowershop was a deeply embarrassing one for me.  I was actually sitting on the bed that's at the end of the ladder luce leans on, doing the camera for the topshot, where we look down on them.  and we had another two cameras going.  so there were a lot of people in a tiny room, very hot with all the lights.  and in the middle of it all, two actresses laughing very hard.

the truth is, I don't really know what happens in the almost-kiss.  what I wrote, if you're interested, was

LUCE
OK, well ... thanks for the evening.  

RACHEL
Thank you.

LUCE
It was my birthday.

RACHEL
No, today?  You should've said.  It's mine at the weekend.  

LUCE
We're practically twins.

RACHEL
Well ... happy birthday.

She goes to kiss her.  But neither of them know whether to go cheek, or mouth, or which cheek. They have an incredibly awkward nose-bumping moment, before they figure it out, peck each other politely.

They pull back, look at each other.  Their faces are very close now ... The headlights of a passing car illuminate them for a second.  And they both jump back. Then the car has gone.  And the moment has passed.

RACHEL
OK then.  Goodnight.

LUCE
Yeah.  Night.

and then I gave it to two wonderful actresses.  who - correctly - didn't do the polite peck.  they just played awkwardness, and confusion, and lust and morality.  all of that very late at night, after a 14 hour day, in the freezing cold ...

actually through many drafts of the movie, rachel did actually shout 'I love you' just before piper whacks her big smile out on the roof of the car at the end.  and we even shot it.  but then they were both so beautiful, and they smiled so joyfully at each other, that just silence seemed to do the trick.  

they can both move some, and they should teach us to move.  I actually kind of shafted them that day.  because I'm a crap director, and failed to plan ahead, although I'd known for weeks that we had the rights to the kelly marie song, I only gave it to the actresses that morning about twenty minutes before they were due on set.  luckily lena numbers choreography among the lengthy list of her talents, so they emerged from the trailer shortly afterwards with their routine all planned out.  and left our jaws on the floor.

it's true that piper and lena spend a lot of time looking at each other in the movie.  there's a beat between them in their first scene at flowershop, just before luce says 'anyway, I was just serving a customer' that more or less makes all words redundant for the rest of the film, I think.  scenes with the two of them were enormous fun to direct - they're very great friends, so we'd all just laugh a lot.  

piper and lena were nothing less than lovely on set and off.  they were excellent friends already, which I knew when I cast them, and that made for a fantastically happy atmosphere.  they're both kind, warm, generous, and funny people, as well as ferociously smart.  piper was mildly nervous about her accent at first, but it was so outstanding so quickly that she didn't have to worry for too long.  the two of them just laughed together, and gelled together, and I just got to watch.  and take the credit.  

lena and piper never actually tested together. piper read for me when I went to new york, but that was mainly about the accent, I wasn't worried about her acting chops. and lena I knew and loved anyway. she and piper had hung out a lot while making 'the cave', and you could just see from the big smile each had when I asked about the other how well they'd got on. and if people are having a good time before and after the cameras are rolling, they'll probably have a pretty good chemistry onscreen. they just laughed a lot together. which made my life and my job not just easy, but fun.

Ol Parker describes Lena and Piper in one word:

piper – adorable
lena – heartbreaking