In what seems to be a season of celebrity court cases, Lena Headey, perhaps more well known to some as Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones, is reportedly being sued by her former agency for $1.5 million over her scrapped role in Thor: Love and Thunder.

Whilst recent high profile cases such as Depp/Heard and Vardy/Rooney were defamation action, this action centres around commission fees relating to a number of projects including the upcoming Marvel film, notwithstanding Ms Headey’s scenes ending up on the cutting room floor.

It is reported that Ms Headey will argue she initially got the role in the Thor movie after being approached directly by director, Taika Waititi. Much will turn on the contents of any contract between Ms Headey and her former agency, whether written or, as is being reported, via a longstanding oral agreement.

Breach of contract can take many forms, but occurs when one party to the agreement fails to fulfil an obligation or breaks one of more of the terms and conditions set out in the agreement between them.

Suing someone for breach of contract is not always straightforward and there are a series of legal hurdles to overcome in order to do so, including proving that a legally binding contract existed in the first place. This is more difficult if relying on an alleged oral agreement. Thereafter, Ms Headey’s former agent must prove that the contract was breached and the loss suffered was a direct consequence of the breach of contract.

If these hurdles are overcome, there are several remedies a court could award including damages, an injunction or specific performance whereby a party in breach must fulfil a particular term of the contract which they previously failed to do. On the facts available, it appears only monetary damages are sought on all accounts. 

Were the claim to be successful, the general intention of the court is to put the injured party back in the same position they would have been had there not been a breach of contract i.e. to receive the commission sums allegedly due for the projects in question.

I will follow this case with interest, but will first be watching the latest Marvel movie wondering where Ms Headey was set to fit into the cinematic universe.