“There’s no such gold and no such pearl, as a bright and beautiful English girl.” Charles Dance introduces British Actress of the Year Gwendoline Christie with a poem
Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2014 > Nov 1: Comikaze
Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2014 > Nov 4: Harper’s Bazaar Woman of The Year Award
Photoshoots > Photoshoots in 2014 > 2014 Harper’s Bazaar
(242)
Photoshoots > Photoshoots in 2014 > 2014 Harper’s Bazaar (+1)
Photoshoots > Photoshoots in 2014 > 2014 Supporting BBC Children in Need
Magazines Scans > Scans in 2014 > 2014 Harper’s Bazaar UK – Dec
Magazines Scans > Scans in 2014 > 2014 Vogue UK – Dec (455)
Gwendoline Christie arrives at the St Pancras Hotel in London looking magnificent in a Giles Deacon cape, exclaiming, “And WHY haven’t we met before?” in a swooping, resonant voice. “WHO has been keeping us apart?” Christie often speaks in CAPITALS, her expressive voice changing registers and layering emphasis as she delivers her conversational lines. “IT WAS DIVINE” (her verdict on Anna Nicole, the opera); “I’m BATS about Miu Miu and Prada.” She also uses my name frequently, in the teasing manner of a natural flirt. She is wittier and a thousand times more feminine than her most famous role (to date), the stern-faced, bone-crunching warrior Brienne of Tarth in HBO’s epic Game of Thrones, a television adaptation of George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire book series.
STYLE RESUME
PROFESSION: Actress/enemy slayer
MY STYLE IS: Mythic Space Horse with chocolate-box tendencies.
GO-TO LABELS: Gile Deacon, Miu Miu, Prada, Roksanda Illincic, Richard Nicoll and Louise Gray – being in her studio is endlessly fun.
FAIL-SAFE PIECES: For day, Acne Studios jeans. For evening, a black crepe Miu Miu dress – it’s a dear old faithful – and a cashmere cape by Giles that transforms any outfit.
FAVORITE ACCESSORIES: My Roger Vivier pumps are timeless.
So impactful is her performance that Barack Obama is reported to have asked the show’s producers after her character’s well-being, and Mike Tyson once accosted her on the red carpet for a joint selfie (with the stipulation that she put him in a headlock).
In 2015, Christie’s fortunes look set to rise further with roles in blockbusters The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part Two and Star Wars VII. Her coterie of influential friends insist this is simply nature taking its course: the actor Simon Callow, her friend and mentor after she left London’s Drama Centre, said he could “smell success” coming her way.
“I was incredibly lucky to leave drama school and work with [director] Declan Donnellan at the Royal Shakespeare Company for my first job,” says Christie. “I never had to go too long without being employed.” Still, for eight years, she walked Callow’s dogs to earn extra money. “I miss them so much,” she says. “They were the best friends I ever had! Two boxers called Biff and Roxy; two glorious beings that I fell in love with.” She was busy taking Biff and Roxy for four-hour romps across north London’s parks and canals when it came to her attention that fans of Game of Thrones were lobbying online for her to play Brienne in the TV adaptation of the novels.
“There was this wonderfully encouraging wave of support,” says Christie. “I read the books and I really, really wanted to play the part. I started kundalini yoga, kickboxing and running, and completely changed my diet. I felt I wanted to undergo what was necessary for the part.” This was all before her first audition. “I love a challenge,” she shrugs. “And I love defying limitation, gender stereotypes and people’s expectations of me as an actress.”
“I love DEFYING limitation, gender STEREOTYPES and people’s expectations of me as an ACTRESS”
Life had already set expectations for Christie to defy. Growing up in a hamlet near England’s South Downs, she was conspicuous, having reached almost her full height of 6ft 3in by the age of 14. She rejected the growth inhibitors offered by her doctor and struggled to belong at school. At home, she read, watched Hitchcock and ellini films, and devoured fashion magazines. “By hook or by crook, I got my mitts on them,” explains Christie.
“My life was very quiet, sedate and bookish, and it was so exciting to me to see what was going on in nightclubs and communities of artists and subcultures around the world. It gave me a taste for transformation – the idea that a woman could be a chameleon.”
After moving to London to attend drama school, Christie formed friendships with a group of performance artists called The Offset. “Finding those people who embraced that alternative way of life made me feel like I’d come home,” she confesses.
Christie’s first bespoke dress, made for her when she was 19, changed her life, insists the actress. Due to her height, she could never find clothes that fitted, until a seamstress friend revved up her sewing machine. “She was my height,” says Christie. “She said, ‘Darling, you need to experience what it’s like to wear something that has been made for you.’ On the surface she was offering to make clothes that wouldn’t restrict me, but what she was saying had a lot more depth; it was about not having to bend around the world. Just inhabit it.”
That lesson proved “very valuable” to Christie, though she is “still grappling with it today”. Brienne of Tarth is a noble misfit, and her story arc with the male knight Jaime Lannister was conceived as Beauty and the Beast with gender roles reversed. Or so the characters’ creator told her.
“People say,‘You look so much BETTER in real LIFE’, and I always thank them, because the INTENTION is good”
“I met the great George R. R. Martin,” Christie says, “and we talked for a long time about Brienne because he had, as he put it, ‘the advantage of being able to shine a torch around her mind’. He’s a deeply kind, intelligent and sensitive man.” Sometimes the viewing public is not so tactful. “People come up to me and say, ‘You look so much better in real life’,” she laughs, a deep, wicked cackle you could roll around in. “And I always thank them, because the intention is good.”
I bring up the name of designer Giles Deacon, the boyfriend that she doesn’t wish to discuss. She gives me a firm look and there’s a reddening of the delicately pale skin around her neck. Instead, we talk about other designers: Louise Gray, who has made her dresses; her friend Richard Nicoll, who makes her wonderful coats; and how Roksanda Ilincic designs with a longer line, “so the waist will hit you at the waist rather than just below the bust”. She concludes with, “But Giles is my favorite designer. More tea?”
It is clear why Christie is loved by the fashion world – she comes to life talking about the technicalities of clothes; thevalue of ruching, turn-back cuffs and concealed slits; about bionic T-shirts from the ’90s or the long, tall Poiret silhouette of the ’20s. And, as a woman with a “grueling” work-out schedule, she is excited that a new “strong” aesthetic is becoming fashionable for women’s bodies, saying: “It’s empowering, and I LIKE IT.”
Source: Net-A-Porter
(787)
Click below for the gallery:
Candids & Snapshots > 2014 Candids > Dec 1: Arriving and Departing The British Fashion Awards & Edward Enninful’s After Party
Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2014 > Dec 1: British Fashion Awards
Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2014 > Dec 1: Edward Enninful’s After Party
Photoshoots > Photoshoots in 2014 > 2014 Net-A-Porter Video Screencaps
(203)
I’ve added almost 80 new HQ shots from the SAG Awards plus a cute photo from the SAG Awards Photobooth.
Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2015 > Jan 25: 21st Annual Screen Actor’s Guild Awards
Photoshoots > Photoshoots in 2015 > 2015 SAG Award Photobooth (241)
Thanks to SarahWayneCallies.org for 2014 SDCC – TV Guide photoshoot!
Gallery Links:
– Photoshoots > Photoshoots in 2014 > 2014 TV Guide @ SDCC
– Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2015 > Mar 25: “Game of Thrones” Season 5 Press Conference
– Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2015 > Apr 19: Calgary Comic And Entertainment Expos
– Television Productions > Game of Thrones {2011 – present} > Season 5 > 5.03 “High Sparrow” Screencaps
If you repost any of these photos, please credit this site. (172)
Thanks to Far Far Away and Stephanie for their help getting some of these! I’m hoping that the Women Who Kick Ass Panel video will pop up soon but for now its not been posted.
Gallery Links:
• Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2015 > Jul 10: “Game of Thrones” Comic Con Panel
• Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2015 > Jul 10: Comic Con SiriusXM’s Entertainment Weekly Radio
• Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2015 > Jul 10: “Game of Thrones” Comic Con Press Line
• Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2015 > Jul 10: “Game of Thrones” Comic Con Autographs
• Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2015 > Jul 10: LucasFilm “Star Wars” Comic Con Panel
• Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2015 > Jul 10: LucasFilm “Star Wars” Comic Con Press Line
• Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2015 > Jul 10: LucasFilm Comic Con “Star Wars” Concert
• Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2015 > Jul 11: “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay 2″ Autograph Session
• Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2015 > Jul 11: “Women Who Kick Ass” Backstage
• Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2015 > Jul 11: “Women Who Kick Ass” Panel
• Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2015 > Jul 11: “Women Who Kick Ass” Press Line
• Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2015 > Jul 10-11: Snapshots at Comic Con
• Photoshoots > Photoshoots in 2015 > 2015 Entertainment Weekly at Comic Con – Game of Thrones
• Photoshoots > Photoshoots in 2015 > 2015 Entertainment Weekly at Comic Con – Star Wars
(107)
I’ve finally finished the Comic Con updates. All of the interviews and panels are uploaded into the Video Gallery as well. Thanks to Far Far Away for their help!
Gallery Links:
• Photoshoots > Photoshoots in 2015 > 2015 Vivienne Westwood’s “Greenpeace To Save The Arctic” Campaign
• Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2015 > Jul 10: Comic Con SiriusXM’s Entertainment Weekly Radio
• Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2015 > Jul 10: LucasFilm “Star Wars” Comic Con Panel
• Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2015 > Jul 10: LucasFilm “Star Wars” Comic Con Press Line
• Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2015 > Jul 11: “Women Who Kick Ass” Press Line
• Candids & Snapshots > 2015 Candids > Jul 12: Arriving at Heathrow
• Magazines Scans > Scans in 2015 > 2015 Entertainment Weekly – July 10
• Magazines Scans > Scans in 2015 > 2015 People – July 13
• Magazines Scans > Scans in 2015 > 2015 Total Film and SFX Special – The 100 Greatest Sci-Fi Characters
• Magazines Scans > Scans in 2015 > 2015 Entertainment Weekly – Comic Con Special
• Screencaps > Convention Videos > SDCC 2015 – “Game of Thrones” Panel
• Screencaps > Convention Videos > SDCC 2015 – “Entertainment Weekly” Game of Thrones Cast Interview
• Screencaps > Convention Videos > SDCC 2015 – “LucusFilms/Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens” Panel
• Screencaps > Convention Videos > SDCC 2015 – “LucusFilms/Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens” Interview
• Screencaps > Convention Videos > SDCC 2015 – “Entertainment Weekly – Women Who Kick Ass” Panel
(99)
Gallery Links:
PHOTOSHOOTS > PHOTOSHOOTS IN 2015 > 2015 PRE-BAFTA DINNER PORTRAITS
PHOTOSHOOTS > PHOTOSHOOTS IN 2013 > 2013 STYLIST +1
CANDIDS & SNAPSHOTS > SNAPSHOTS > SNAPSHOTS
PUBLIC APPEARANCES > PUBLIC APPEARANCES IN 2015 > FEB 23: CREATIVE LONDON PARTY HOSTED BY THE BRITISH FASHION COUNCIL AND BP
PUBLIC APPEARANCES > PUBLIC APPEARANCES IN 2015 > FEB 24: ELLE STYLE AWARDS 2015
PUBLIC APPEARANCES > PUBLIC APPEARANCES IN 2015 > MAR 7: VIVIENNE WESTWOOD FASHION SHOW – PARIS FASHION WEEK
PUBLIC APPEARANCES > PUBLIC APPEARANCES IN 2015 > MAR 18: “GAME OF THRONES” SEASON 5 PREMIERE – LONDON
PUBLIC APPEARANCES > PUBLIC APPEARANCES IN 2015 > JUN 22: VOGUE & RALPH LAUREN WIMBLEDON PARTY
PUBLIC APPEARANCES > PUBLIC APPEARANCES IN 2015 > AUG 01: THE PORT ELIOT FESTIVAL AT ST GERMANS, CORNWALL BRITAIN
FILM PRODUCTIONS > STAR WARS: EPISODE VII – THE FORCE AWAKENS {2015} >PROMOTIONAL STILLS
TELEVISION PRODUCTIONS > GAME OF THRONES {2011 – PRESENT} > SEASON 5 > BEHIND THE SCENES
(57)
Gallery Links:
PHOTOSHOOTS > PHOTOSHOOTS IN 2015 > 2015 “GAME OF THRONES” PORTRAIT BY HELEN SLOAN
FILM PRODUCTIONS > STAR WARS: EPISODE VII – THE FORCE AWAKENS {2015} >OFFICIAL POSTERS
MAGAZINES SCANS > SCANS IN 2015 > 2015 TOTAL FILMS – SEPTEMBER
MAGAZINES SCANS > SCANS IN 2015 > 2015 EMPIRE – SEPTEMBER
MAGAZINES SCANS > SCANS IN 2015 > 2015 SFX – OCTOBER
MAGAZINES SCANS > SCANS IN 2015 > 2015 EMPIRE – OCTOBER
(52)
Gallery Links:
– Photoshoots > Photoshoots in 2015 > Photoshoot 009
– Film Productions > Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens {2015} > Official Posters
– Magazines Scans > Scans in 2015 > 2015 Total Film – October
– Magazines Scans > Scans in 2015 > 2015 Starburst – September
– Screencaps > Others > Love Magazine’s 2013 Christmas Video
(51)
I’ve added two additional photos to Gwendoline’s recent photoshoot for The Sunday Times – Style and improved the quality of the photos I uploaded yesterday.
Gallery Links:
– Photoshoots > Photoshoots in 2015 > Photoshoot 009
(79)
Gallery Links:
(99)
Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find more of the Rollacoaster photo shoots or scans so if anyone else sees them, please give me a heads up. All donations are credited!
Gallery Links:
(11)
Gallery Links:
Photoshoots > Photoshoots in 2015 > Photoshoot 012
Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2015 > Feb 7: Charles Finch & CHANEL Pre-BAFTA Dinner
Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2015 > Apr 19: Calgary Comic And Entertainment Expos
Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2015 > May 23-24: Denver Comic Con
Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2015 > Oct 14: Attitude Magazine Awards
Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2014 > Feb 28 – Mar 2 – Throne Con 3
Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2014 > Mar 16: Walker Stalker Convention – Chicago
Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2014 > Nov 1: Comikaze
Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2012 > May 25-27: London Comic Con
Public Appearances > Public Appearances in 2009 > Nov 15: Patrick Wolf – London Palladium
Magazines Scans > Scans in 2015 > 2015 Emmy – Issue #8
Magazines Scans > Scans in 2015 > 2015 The Hollywood Reporter – October 2
Magazines Scans > Scans in 2015 > 2015 Harper’s Bazaar – November
Magazines Scans > Scans in 2015 > 2015 Sci Fi Now – Issue 112
Magazines Scans > Scans in 2015 > 2015 SFX – December
(8)
Gwendoline Christie has various ways of putting off questions about Captain Phasma, the villainous Stormtrooper leader she plays in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” and, sitting down for a chat during a recent visit to L.A. from her native England, she gave them all a workout.
There was the apologetic approach. (“I’m so sorry — this is where I’m going to frustrate you.”) There was mock indignation. (“You can’t ask me any of these questions, and I’m almost appalled that you have!”) There was the vague threat of what could happen if she were to spill any “Star Wars” secrets. (“Something bad would happen to me — and you.”)
Christie, 37, is accustomed to withholding plot details, having starred for the last three years as the fan-favorite warrior Brienne of Tarth on HBO’s hit fantasy series “Game of Thrones.” But with roles in not one but two of the most highly anticipated films of the holiday season — she’s in the final installment in the “Hunger Games” franchise, opening Nov. 20, as well as “The Force Awakens,” in theaters Dec. 18 — she finds herself sitting on a pile of spoilers like never before.
It’s not like she can easily hide from all the curious fans. At 6-foot-3 with short-cropped blond hair, Christie quite literally stands out from the crowd. She already gets recognized constantly from “Game of Thrones”; adding the vast and passionate “Hunger Games” and “Star Wars” fan bases on top of that is a rather bewildering prospect, particularly for someone who, until recently, had always been told that she was too tall to find success in acting in the first place. “I don’t think I’ve really taken it on board yet,” she said. “All this stuff is very new to me.”
Asked how she planned to juggle her daunting promotional duties on these two massive films while shooting the sixth season of “Game of Thrones,” Christie laughed. “I’ve been working on some clones,” she said. “I built some greenhouses, and they’ve been incubating in there next to some tomato plants.”
Of her role in “Star Wars,” Christie can say only that though Captain Phasma is a supporting character, she will exert considerable force on the story. “She is a Boba Fett-style character,” the actress said, “which means she makes a lot of impact but she’s not at the forefront of the action all the time.”
From the moment she heard a new “Star Wars” film was in the works, the actress — who grew up in the remote countryside of southern England and had felt like something of a misfit since shooting up to her current height at age 14 — locked onto it like the Death Star’s tractor beam.
“I really wanted to be in ‘Star Wars’ because it had a special meaning to me,” she said. “Being someone who never felt part of the mainstream, who always felt unusual, it felt like a world that I could inhabit in terms of my imagination and who I was. I became like a dog with a bone and was absolutely insistent: ‘Please, please, please try to have me seen.’ Eventually they were worn down by my incessant asking.”
In “Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2,” Christie plays a formidable warrior named Commander Lyme. “She is a victor of a previous Hunger Games,” she explained. “She is the leader of the rebels in District 2 and is shown as an example to Katniss. That’s all I’m allowed to say.”
Though her role involved only two days of shooting, Christie threw herself into it with gusto. “She fell right in and had a great energy and everyone just embraced her immediately,” said the film’s director, Francis Lawrence. “Knowing she’s so popular on ‘Game of Thrones,’ for her to come out to Berlin and work with us for two days — we felt lucky to have her.”
For years, Christie, who studied acting at the Drama Centre London, was told that her height would be an impediment to being cast in film and television roles. But she plowed on despite the warnings. “I never really understood what the fuss was about,” she said. “I always thought, there’s such a wide selection of different people in the world, why wouldn’t it be logical to represent them?”
Still, to have carved out the career she has is beyond anything she could ever have foreseen — and a hopeful sign, she believes, for all those who have felt relegated to the margins for whatever reason.
“There are so many of us being told no, who feel outside of everything,” she said. “I do feel like the world is changing, though, and more attention is being brought to issues of prejudice. I can’t believe my luck that I might just be clinging on to a little bit of it.”
I’ve uploaded more photos from the shoot to the gallery.
Gallery Links:
(18)
I’ve been catching up on some overdue screencapping while Gwendoline is filming. Enjoy!
(18)
The actress who plays the fearsome “Chrometrooper” in Star Wars: The Force Awakens models the gown inspired by the character.
You can’t miss Gwendoline Christie. At six-foot-three and with a curt electric-blonde bob and plump red lips, she stands out.
And that goes double when she’s wearing the gown designed by Giles Deacon, printed with images of Christie’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens character, Captain Phasma. Deacon designed the gown as part of a collaboration with Bloomingdale’s and Force 4 Fashion; Deacon’s gown, along with work from Diane von Furstenberg, Opening Ceremony, and more fashion-world luminaries, will be auctioned for charity after being displayed at the Bloomingdale’s flagship store in New York City, beginning December 2.
But first . . . the woman who inspired the gown gets to wear it, for this exclusive photo shoot with John Akehurst for Vanity Fair. “I loved that the design of Captain Phasma’s costume had been so inventively worked into the dress design,” Christie says about the gown, which is printed with elements of Captain Phasma’s hard chrome suit but is also long, flowing, and super-feminine. “[I] adored that so much drama could be created with just one move—much like Captain Phasma!”
During the shoot Christie turned “just one move” into a lot of high-drama stances, including kicks and gravity-defying leg lifts. “I did ballet and gymnastics as a child and have always enjoyed doing leaps and jumps,” she explains. With the wind machine out and Captain Phasma’s actual gun from The Force Awakens brought as a prop, Christie quips, “I was going to say let’s do some lying down, but that’s not a power stance.”
“The idea was to make a beautiful, feminine standout dress rather than just to replicate the original design,” Deacon says about the gown, whose bold print may not come as a surprise for fans of the designer who famously made a “Pac-Man dress.” “It has to have a ‘Giles’ signature to it,” Deacon explains.
And Captain Phasma, even though Christie’s face has yet to be revealed inside that chrome armor, definitely has a “Gwendoline” signature to her already. “Captain Phasma I am sure is going to become a huge, popular-culture icon,” Deacon says. Christie won’t get to keep the gown, and may even get to return to Captain Phasma’s armor in future Star Wars films, but she may find herself nostalgic for that long, flowing dress. “There’s just something about fabric that wins over metal,” she admits.
- Photoshoots > Photoshoots in 2015 > Photoshoot 016
(45)
