What’s worse than being cut from a movie? Maybe it’s being sued by your former agency over unpaid commission fees for that cut part? That’s what “Game Of Thrones” star Lena Headey is dealing with now with the agency YMU, formerly known as Troika, for her cut role in the upcoming “Thor: Love And Thunder” and other projects.
Variety reports that TMU claims Headey owes the agency at least $500,000, roughly 7% of her commission fee, for her role in the new Marvel movie, along with unpaid fees from other projects, bringing the total amount owed to $1.5 million. The other projects include “9 Bullets,” Headey’s film from this year with Sam Worthington, and Showtime’s remake of the Danish dramedy “Rita,” which never to a series order after it filmed a pilot.
Headey first joined YMU when her personal rep, Michael Duff, co-founded Troika in 2005. She followed Duff to the new agency from his previous one, Lou Carl Associates. In 2017, Troika merged with the James Grant Group before a private equity firm acquired it in 2018. Duff left Troika in early 2020 shortly before its rebranding as YMU, and Heaney followed him in May.
YMU seeks an account of commission fees owed, an order of Headey to pay the free, damages for breach of contract, interest, and reimbursement of the agency’s legal fees. Headey claims she never signed any contract with either YMU or Troika, with both parties acting on an oral agreement formed by Duff when the pair was still at Lou Carl Associates in the late 1990s. Headey also points out that Troika/YMU was never her sole agency, also being represented by CAA in the United States.
Furthermore, Headey also disputes Troika/YMU’s commission claims on the projects because the agency didn’t negotiate them. Headey claims “Love And Thunder” director Taika Waititi contacted her directly about her role in the film, while her role in “9 Bullets” wasn’t negotiated by either Troika/YMU or Duff. As for the “Rita,” Headey already paid Troika/YMU for her commission from the pilot, and she doesn’t need to pay anything else because “no further episodes are planned.”
Advance screenings of “Love & Thunder” confirm that Headey is indeed not in Waititi’s movie, so Troika/YMU’s dispute sounds especially puzzling. The movie, which stars Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman, hits theaters next week on July 8. As for Headey’s next project, she’ll be in the HBO miniseries “The White House Plumbers,” about the Watergate scandal.