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"To be involved in something that is genuinely challenging gender stereotyping is what I’ve always wanted. I don’t have to worry about whether I look attractive. Brienne looks like a bag of dung – that’s the character and that’s fine – so I can focus on other things."
―Gwendoline Christie on playing Brienne of Tarth[1]

Gwendoline Tracey Philippa Christie is an English actress who plays Brienne of Tarth in Game of Thrones.

Career[]

Born in October 28 1979, Christie grew up in the village of Small Dole within England's South Downs. As an adult, Christie is 6'3" in height (192 cm). She almost reached her full adult height by the time she was only 14 years old, but rejected the growth inhibitors offered by her doctor. She attended Henfield Primary School, then Warden Park Secondary School, and has said her height made it difficult to fit in. With her real life "very quiet, sedate, and bookish", she saw film as an exciting view of a wider world, and eventually moved to London to attend drama school.[2]

Christie had several minor roles in films such as The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, before being cast as Brienne in Game of Thrones, her first major role.

Christie has since been cast in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (alongside fellow Game of Thrones actress Natalie Dormer), and on June 2 2014 it was announced that she would appear in Star Wars Episode VII (alongside Max von Sydow).[3] Later reports revealed that she would play Captain Phasma, a high-ranking Imperial Stormtrooper.[4]

Game of Thrones[]

On Thrones she plays the character of Brienne of Tarth, who debuted in Season 2. She was announced in the role by George R.R. Martin on 8 July 2011. She joined the cast as a guest star in the second season.

Christie first heard about the role of Brienne of Tarth when a friend notified her that there was internet speculation that she was going to be cast in an HBO series (there are only so many 6'3" tall actresses, thus Christie was on the short list of fansite speculation). In fact, Christie had never heard about it before, but this speculation led her to look up fansites and find out what Game of Thrones was, and about Brienne of Tarth. Christie fell in love with Brienne, read the books and everything about them, and subsequently sought out the role.[5]

Christie attended the audition in character and wearing armor. According to George R.R. Martin, they decided on casting her quickly, noting: "we looked at a dozen actresses who were reading for Brienne, and one actress who WAS Brienne."[6] For her role as Brienne, Christie trained extensively to get into the right physical condition, cut off her long hair, and read all of the available novels to study her character's development in detail.[7] HBO also had Christie take horseriding lessons, and she was trained in swordfighting by C.C. Smith.[8] She took up kickboxing, kundalini yoga, and running, and drastically changed her diet.[9] According to Christie during Season 2, as a result of her extensive training for the role, she gained a stone and a half (about 20 pounds) in pure muscle weight.[10]

Writers Benioff and Weiss played a prank on Christie in Season 4: they presented her with a realistic but fake New York Times article calling her stuck-up and spoiled because she refused to sign a fan's autograph, but neither the fan nor the autograph ever actually existed.[11]

During Season 5, Christie said of Brienne overall:

"Women are all brought up with a series of conventional expectations, so one cannot help but want recognition or affirmation in those areas. I think what’s so beautiful and interesting about the character of Brienne of Tarth is yes, she’s strong; she’s a badass; she has vulnerability. But in all of her lack of convention and her uniqueness, all women can identify with her because she wants to be loved in the way that as human beings – male or female – we all want to be loved. We see the pureness of her humanity, and that she’s something that isn’t so far away from all of us."[12]

Credits[]

Guest starring[]

Game of Thrones: Season 2
The North Remembers The Night Lands What Is Dead May Never Die Garden of Bones The Ghost of Harrenhal
The Old Gods and the New A Man Without Honor The Prince of Winterfell Blackwater Valar Morghulis
Game of Thrones: Season 3
Valar Dohaeris Dark Wings, Dark Words Walk of Punishment And Now His Watch Is Ended Kissed by Fire
The Climb The Bear and the Maiden Fair Second Sons The Rains of Castamere Mhysa

Starring[]

Game of Thrones: Season 4
Two Swords The Lion and the Rose Breaker of Chains Oathkeeper First of His Name
The Laws of Gods and Men Mockingbird The Mountain and the Viper The Watchers on the Wall The Children
Game of Thrones: Season 5
The Wars To Come The House of Black and White High Sparrow Sons of the Harpy Kill the Boy
Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken The Gift Hardhome The Dance of Dragons Mother's Mercy
Game of Thrones: Season 6
The Red Woman Home Oathbreaker Book of the Stranger The Door
Blood of My Blood The Broken Man No One Battle of the Bastards The Winds of Winter
Game of Thrones: Season 7
Dragonstone Stormborn The Queen's Justice The Spoils of War
Eastwatch Beyond the Wall The Dragon and the Wolf
Game of Thrones: Season 8
Winterfell A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms The Long Night
The Last of the Starks The Bells The Iron Throne

See also[]

References[]


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