Gwendoline Christie Reflects on Being Cast in Star Wars

Screen Rant

Star Wars: How Gwendoline Christie Felt When She Was Cast

By Amanda Hayman

Published Nov 28, 2017

Gwendoline Christie remembers the exact moment she was cast as Captain Phasma in J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi actress Gwendoline Christie says she remembers the exact moment she was cast as Captain Phasma in The Force Awakens – the first entry into the new trilogy of Star Wars films following the Skywalkers and their family drama set in the galaxy far, far away.

With The Last Jedi premiering in theaters December 15, fans are eager to see Christie reprise her role as Phasma and unleash the full force of the First Order garrison against Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron, Luke Skywalker and all members of the Resistance. Audiences only got a taste of Phasma in The Force Awakens before she was dumped into Starkiller Base's sewage system by Finn and Han Solo towards the end of the film. Clearly, the Stormtrooper Captain made her escape because she returns in the new film directed by Rian Johnson and trailers have already shown her fighting Finn, so moviegoers should prepare themselves to see an even stronger and angrier Phasma in The Last Jedi.

In an interview with Indo Asian News Service, Christie breaks down the moment she found out she was cast as Phasma, her initial feelings, and why she always wanted to join Star Wars. While Christie is no stranger to popular fandoms - seeing as she does play Brienne of Tarth in Game of Thrones - being cast in a Star Wars movie is what caused her to feel “unbelievable joy” due to her captivation of Princess Leia in the original trilogy. Here's what she said:

"I can remember the precise moment I was cast as Captain Phasma in Star Wars. It was an explosion of unbelievable joy. For a long time, I had campaigned to be in the franchise to anyone who would listen. It was an ambition motivated by one of my earliest memories, of when, aged six, I was placed in front of the flamboyant space opera. I marveled at this fantasy world in a way I couldn't yet articulate, with its misfits and droids and a woman who fought the enemy with intelligence, who was funny and refused to be shackled - the inimitable Princess Leia."

Gwendoline Christie as Captain Phasma via Vanity Fair

Christie also shared a story about the moment she first saw Phasma’s chromium-coated armor. She revealed that Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy asked Christie if she ever Googled "female superheroes" and showed Christie all the images of female heroes in revealing and scantily clad suits. It was clear that Kennedy wanted to challenge the stigma with Phasma, which she was successful with considering audiences wouldn't know Phasma was a woman if it wasn't for her voice. Here's what Christie said about the moment:

"When I was taken to the top-secret wardrobe department to see my Captain Phasma costume - a shiny, full-body suit of armor - I was truly electrified. Kathleen Kennedy, president of LucasFilm, had asked me if I'd ever Googled 'female superheroes' and proceeded to show me the results; a plethora of scantily clad, cartoon-like women and not a whole lot else."

Christie is certainly right in that audiences need to see more strong, powerful female leaders in film, and on the small screen, that don’t feel the need to use sex appeal to maintain control, but fans certainly hope to see more of Phasma in The Last Jedi. While her role in The Force Awakens was hyped up to be a strong-fighting female character, she was underused in the film and many fans complained that she was too easily taken down by Finn and the Resistance, so it's exciting to see her back in action in The Last Jedi and maybe even on her way to redemption.