Women power new ‘Star Wars’ movie
Gwendoline Christie is the first female villain in the ‘Star Wars’ universe
The Dark Side is a nice place to visit for Gwendoline Christie.
The 6-foot-3 British actress gained fans and fame as the warrior Brienne of Tarth on HBO’s Game of Thrones. She has parlayed that into supporting roles as rebel leader Commander Lyme in this year’s The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2 and as the armored Captain Phasma, one of the coolest-looking antagonists in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and the franchise’s first major female villain.
“Every day is really fantastic. I feel like all my Christmases have come at once,” says Christie, 37.
“I’m a bit spoiled, really, because the last three projects I’ve been really enthusiastic about. I’ve been very lucky for a couple of years now.”
Christie talks with USA TODAY about her role in the hit new Star Wars film — with a box office of $238 million and counting since Thursday night — and her favorites from the original movies.
Q Is Phasma a woman you’d hang out with?
A( Laughs) To the best of my knowledge, I’ve never hung out with someone who’s consciously been a member of the Dark Side. There may be some people who are part of the Dark Side unconsciously I’ve hung out with. And I haven’t hung out with anyone wearing armor in front of me.
Q Is she an ambitious sort — does she want to be General Phasma?
A I put the costume on and I realized that this armor is quite something. It’s very highfunctioning, it’s very imposing and it’s not malleable at all. I thought, well, anybody who wears that every day, it must inform their character. Those were some things that I took on board as characteristics.
Q Phasma’s got a bit of a Darth Vader swagger to her, and like the old Sith Lord, there’s a purpose in every step. She’s in no hurry to get anywhere.
A People who believe they have great power often take their time.
Q Does Phasma’s chrome helmet raise the overall coolness of her vibe?
A It’s a pretty cool helmet, isn’t it? (Executive producer) Kathleen Kennedy asked me if I’d ever Googled “female heroines” and I hadn’t, and there came up a list of images of very conventionally attractive women in figurehugging costumes and there wasn’t a lot of diversity there. So far, we have related to Captain Phasma (through) her character and her action. Her sexuality has been incidental to the opinion we’ve formed of her so far, and that to me felt very progressive and refreshing.
Q Did you gravitate toward Vader and the Empire when you first watched the ‘Star Wars’ movies?
A When I first saw (the original 1977 Star Wars), I think I was about 6. ... I do remember thinking about Princess Leia, “Gosh, that’s not the sort of woman I’ve seen before in films. ... I’d like to be like that.” It has been informing, being so captivated by a female character who is very driven, intelligent, smart, witty, focused and determined — all of those things certainly made me realize this was an entirely possible way to behave and quite an attractive way as well. Plus, I really, really liked her hair. I used to approximate the hairstyle with a pair of brown fake-fur earmuffs.
Q What have you learned about yourself being Phasma?
A I realized what happened above the neck was as important as what happened below the neck, and it encouraged me to really investigate the physical world of gesture. Truly, the way a character stands says something about them, the way they walk tells another story, (and) the way they move their hands illuminates something about the character to an audience. I’ve never had my focus put so distinctly into those areas. More than that, I found this to be a wonderful experience because it’s really shown me that people want to see a greater representation of their society in entertainment. And I feel truly privileged to be playing a small character who I hope is part of a bigger movement.