Six degrees of separation from Game of Thrones actress Lena Headey

Lena Headey reprised the role of Cersei Lannister, queen regent of the seven kingdoms, in season five of fantasy drama Game of Thrones this month. Born in Bermuda, Headey is a campaigner for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. In 2005, however, she was told to skin a rabbit for her role in The Brothers Grimm. Recalling the incident, the film's director, Terry Gilliam, said, "I turned to Lena, having watched [two men demonstrate the] skinning, and she's holding the other bunny, saying, 'You're not going to kill this one.'" A plastic rabbit with a latex skin was used thereafter. The film was a homage to Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm …

Born in the 18th century, the German siblings came from a family of nine children (eight sons and one daughter), three of whom died in infancy. Although linguists by trade - they compiled one of the first German dictionaries - it was fairy tales such as Snow White, Cinderella and the Frog Prince that made them famous. The brothers didn't write their stories, however; they published tales that had been part of an oral tradition, or originally written in another language, such as the works of Frenchman Charles Perrault …

Born in 1628 in Paris, Perrault followed his father into government, where he used his position to swing his younger brother, Claude, a job designing a section of the Louvre. Out of work by the age of 67, Perrault turned his hand to writing children's stories. Tales such as Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella are still told today as he wrote them. Many of Perrault's fairy tales have been made into films; last year, Sleeping Beauty was adapted into Maleficent by Walt Disney Studios, the president of which is Sean Bailey …

Prior to helming the Walt Disney film factory, Bailey had co-founded television and movie production company LivePlanet with actor Ben Affleck. He told The Wall Street Journal his goal at Disney was to make films about princesses as special to females as Marvel's superheros are to males. With Disney reboots of Beauty and the Beast, Pinocchio and Winnie the Pooh in the pipeline, Bailey is no doubt buzzing from the success of this year's update of the 1950s classic film Cinderella, which has so far grossed US$437 million at the global box office, and was directed by Kenneth Branagh …

Knighted in 2012, the actor, director and screenwriter from Belfast, Northern Ireland, joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1984, appearing in productions such as Henry V. Famous for playing roles such as Hamlet and cowardly teacher Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Branagh was once considered for the part of Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, a role which eventually went to Ewan McGregor. Now a Hollywood A-lister, Branagh remains true to his theatrical roots, and next year he will direct a West End production of Romeo and Juliet. The star-crossed lovers will be played by Lily James and Richard Madden …

Madden, 28, nearly turned down his breakthrough film role in Branagh's Cinderella, thinking it was a pantomime. Only when he heard Cate Blanchett and Helena Bonham Carter had signed on did the Scotsman reconsider. Madden made his name playing King Robb Stark in Game of Thrones, but left the show in 2013 when his character was killed off. While Walder Frey was thought to be behind the murder, the real mastermind was Tywin Lannister, Lord of House Lannister and father of Cersei, played by Lena Headey.