Bazaar Archive: Gwendoline Christie
Trent McGinn for Harper's Bazaar
From swordfighter to galactic warrior to futuristic rebel, the glorious Christie is conquering Hollywood one role at a time...
Let's get this out of the way to start: Gwendoline Christie looks extraordinary.Not that it's strictly polite to mention her appearance before her talent, of course, but at 6'3", with skin the colour of creamy milk and hair bright bottle-blonde, it seems unavoidable. Most actors are slighter creatures than the screen suggests; the opposite is true for Christie, whose physicality is more than just unusual, it's defining. Her stature has shaped her life – aged 11, she gave up competitive gymnastics because of a back injury caused by growing too fast; when she was 14, a doctor offered to cut three inches off her legs to make her 'normal'; later still, she stopped going to school because of bullies who said she was a man dressed in woman's clothing – but now it is transforming her career. From she-knight Brienne of Tarth in the TV epic Game of Thrones – now filming its fifth season, due to screen here in the spring – to roles in 2015's blockbusting instalments of both Star Wars and The Hunger Games ('I'm not allowed to tell you anything about them. I'm sorry, it's so impolite'), this thirtysomething is our British Actress of the Year because she is about to become this country's biggest action star. In many ways, however, Christie's height is the least interesting thing about her.
For anyone who has managed to avoid popular culture entirely since 2011, Game of Thrones is a sort of political intrigue set in a fictional universe, and HBO's most popular series ever, beating even The Sopranos. Based on A Song of Ice and Fire – five cult fantasy novels by George RR Martin, who is now frantically writing two more – it's a bloody soap opera with feuds and wars, dungeons and dragons, mythical creatures, morally ambiguous characters and an astonishing amount of sex and savagery. It's compelling stuff, made more so by a strong female cast of all ages playing characters who are just as bloodthirsty as the men. Into this, two years ago, rode Christie as someone described in the books as 'the freakish one, not fit to be son or daughter'. 'I absolutely had to sacrifice my personal vanity,' she says. 'I'm thrilled I did that. You realise quickly that vanity can be quite worthless. When I was younger, I wasn't sure I wanted to act because I was told it would be so hard for me, and possibly not an option at all, because of the way I looked. I leapt at the opportunity to play a character that was so outside the realms of convention. I love the part because it defies gender stereotypes and it defies aspects of femininity that always told me "no".'
Christie grew up in a small village on the South Downs, with parents who were strict, though always supportive. Her late father, also tall, told her she was special, told her: 'You can do anything a man can do,' and she seems to have developed a core of steel beneath the surface vulnerability; her composure is impressive when describing the setbacks and slights she has endured. While she was studying at Drama Centre London, a classical method conservatoire, agents told her she was too big to be cast; she found solace among the glamorous freak show that was the city's club scene at the time. 'It was such a glorious group of exotic misfits, I felt like I had come home because my differences were celebrated. For the first time, I was welcomed with open arms.' A muse of sorts, she appeared nude in a book by the photographer Polly Borland, and was dressed by East End designers who remain her friends to this day (one of whom, Giles Deacon, is now her partner). She still sees fashion as a form of escapism and self-expression.
Trent McGinn for Harper's Bazaar
There was some small success along the way: a few scenes in Terry Gilliam's film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus with Heath Ledger and stage experience in a production of Great Expectations at the National Theatre. Christie also worked as an assistant to the actor and director Simon Callow, walking his dogs and cataloguing his CD collection, and though this wasn't what she had trained so hard to do, it strengthened her resolve. 'He educated me,' she says. 'He made me believe that I should be an artist, and that it was valid, and that there was no reason why I shouldn't succeed. He gave me great faith that I would be able to work.'
When it was announced that HBO was adapting Game of Thrones, fans of the novels filled online forums with suggestions of who should be cast. Gwendoline Christie was one of those names. She read the books; she decided they were right. 'I lost a stone and a half of weight, stopped drinking, started eating very healthily and worked out all the time,' she says. 'I wanted it.' This was the easiest part: once the role was offered to her, Christie learned how to ride, spent three months mastering fencing and built the kind of muscle that allows you to spend 12 hours a day swordfighting on horseback while wearing a suit of armour.
A sixth series of Game of Thrones has already been commissioned and will begin filming this spring; in the meantime, in between working on the previous episodes, Christie filmed her roles in Star Wars and also The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, the fourth and final part of the series. 'I'm playing Commander Lyme, a previous victor of an unseen Hunger Games,' she says of her character. 'She is now in charge of the rebels in District 2, which is the closest district to the Capitol. Katniss [played by Jennifer Lawrence] was shown footage of Commander Lyme as an example, as inspiration.' Due for release in November 2015, it's Christie's first proper experience of Hollywood, but the sense of empowerment she felt playing Brienne of Tarth hasn't been lost. 'I like the message that The Hunger Games has,' she says. 'I like the fact that this new female icon is about strength and strength of choice. It was a real highlight of my life. For these things to actually happen, it imbues you with such hope of what life can be. I know it sounds corny, but it's true. What a nice year to have!'
This originally appeared in the December 2014 issue of Harper's Bazaar
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