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Gwendoline Christie Talks About Likeness Between Her ‘Game Of Thrones’ & ‘Star Wars’ Characters, Gender Gap In The Industry

By Jean Mendoza
Published on: 20:46 PST, Sep 20, 2015

British actress Gwendoline Christie rose to fame for playing the character Brienne of Tarth in HBO’s Game of Thrones, and her Hollywood career has taken off ever since. Christie, 36, will also be appearing in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Recently, Gwendoline had an interview with Variety wherein she discussed her different roles.

Brienne of Tarth is unfeminine and has good fighting skills. She is often seen in combat with men in Game of Thrones. On the other hand, Captain Phasma, the role Christie plays in the upcoming Star Wars film, is a captain who commands legions of troopers of the First Order. Though these characters are very different (Brienne being a hero and Phasma being a villain), Gwendoline Christie said that she sees her two characters also have similarities.

“I don’t think many female actors get the opportunity to play a part where they’re not having to think about the way their face looks, but I found exactly the same thing with Brienne of Tarth, and that was very liberating.”

Gwendoline Christie said that focusing on her acting skills rather than what her character looks like is great for her as an actress.

“We have seen an image of [Phasma] and again, it’s an unconventional kind of woman exhibiting a kind of strength, but in a very different way to my other two characters.”

Christie also expressed her appreciation for being able to play these strong women on screen, calling the projects she works on “very, very well developed and very relevant.” Gwendoline Christie’s characters aren’t the usual roles given to women in the movie and TV industry, and the characters give her the same opportunity to play diverse characters, which are mostly given to men. The gender gap in the industry has stirred some controversy, but according to Gwendoline, the gap may be closing in. In an interview with USA Today, the Game of Thrones actress shared her views.

“What I find heartening about it is that it shows the progression of the kind of characters that we want to see on our screens, the way in which we want to see women portrayed and I feel like the media is starting to catch up with what people want.”

[Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images]

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