How Gwendolyn Christie Used Her Unusual Beauty to Get the Game of Thrones Role of Brienne of Tarth

In episode six of his exclusive series for IMDb, host Brandon Hardesty of No Small Parts takes a look at the career of actress Gwendolyn Christie and how she used her amazing height and ability to appear androgynous, features about which she was teased as a child, to garner the iconic role of Brienne of Tarth on Game of Thrones.

Gwendolyn once told Access Hollywood that when she was younger she was teased for her supposed androgyny as well as her height. She stands at six-foot-three. Luckily these qualities only helped her when she auditioned for Brienne of Tarth, a female night in Game of Thrones who is constantly taunted for looks. …As the story goes, fans of the books were already kind of looking ahead for future characters, wondering who would be cast and suggested Gwendolyn as a possible contender. Gwendolyn saw this online, read the books and immediately wanted the part. Before the audition she committed to months of physical training, cut her hair and purposely showed up looking masculine. …she got the part almost instantly.

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.