Actress Gwendoline Christie is famous all over the world for playing the imposing Brienne of Tarth in Emmy-winning sensation Game of Thrones. But in December this year, she's set to become famous all over the galaxy thanks to her role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Christie is playing the role of the masked Captain Phasma (pictured above), a loyal commander of the movie's evil First Order and one clad to the nines in cool, metallic, Stormtrooper-esque armour.
In an interview with Variety, the actress has said how director J.J. Abrams wanted complete synergy between her vocal and physical performances, unlike the iconic Darth Vader whose movements were performed by Green Cross Code man David Prowse whilst James Earl Jones provided the voice.
"It was very important to J.J. that I was there acting a part," she explains. "I found it to be a really interesting acting challenge, not just because of what I felt this character was representing — and it was just what I felt, and we talked about it a little bit, but it was never like a manifesto, ‘this is what it must be’ — and it was exciting to me to have that weight of responsibility taken away, of having to be a certain way as a woman, to have to be mindful in a way that isn’t always useful. To have that stripped away was very liberating, and it meant that as an actor I had to focus on other things. I had to focus on what my body was communicating and what exactly my voice is communicating."
She continues: "It becomes about the way in which you hold your hand, the way in which you walk, where your weight lies and what you want that to mean, and I wanted to give the character identity. I thought it was interesting to make something about the character identifiably female in a non-superficial way, and I hope that comes across."
No doubt many fans will be intrigued by the presence of a key Star Wars villain played by a woman. When it comes to female roles in modern action cinema, Christie is upbeat and positive, praising the strong characters that she has been offered.
"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," she says. "It was great as an actor to work on your skills — that it isn’t about holding your head so you look beautiful. It’s about what you’re transmitting, and to be in service of an idea greater than yourself, whether it’s the character’s overriding objective or, beyond that, hopefully something more sociopolitical. 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."
Will Gwendoline Christie transform Captain Phasma into an iconic Star Wars character? We'll find out for sure when The Force Awakens finally arrives on 17th December. (Yes, that's a day earlier than the USA, in case you hadn't heard.)
