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Game of Thrones’ Gwendoline Christie fit right into her character like a missing piece to a puzzle. While fans might be more familiar with her character, Brienne, behind all the toughness lies a simple smiley woman with lots of fun facts. The main limiting factor in her career was her size.
Since she was fourteen, the actress considered her size a burden, until she decided to embrace it. Apart from having the loudest laugh in the room, here are some more strange facts about her.
A CRAZY FAN STALKED HER FOR A SELFIE
Game of Thrones was undoubtedly one of the most viewed show of the decade with millions of fans gained by the show and its characters. Fame becomes a burden when fans start invading the actor's privacy, and Christie’s story is quite strange.
While at a restaurant, a fan closely followed her to the restroom and marked the stall she was in. She held her phone out to her under the door while she was doing her business and asked for a selfie, which Christie declined.
SHE QUALIFIED UNCHALLENGED FOR THE ROLE OF BRIENNE
Much to everyone’s surprise, Christie showed up for Game of Thrones auditions in a full costume ready to score the role. She got a heads up from her friend who gave her the book the series was based on, A Song of Ice and Fire. Christie read it, fell in love with the story of Brienne, and dressed up for the part.
The directors could not help but notice her determination. She got a call later that turned out to be her turning point and breakthrough in Hollywood. Her six-foot-three demeanor and strength made her the perfect match for the role.
SHE UNDERWENT A DIFFICULT TRANSITION TO BE BRIENNE
Much as her size and build made her a perfect match for the role, Christie had a mountain to climb before getting on set. She was forced to cut her hair for her role on Game of Thrones, something she found quite challenging as her hair contributed a lot to her self-image and femininity.
She lost weight, stopped drinking, took yoga classes, and switched to a more masculine dress code. She became a mirror representation of the character, just as she is described in the book. Stripped of her femininity, she got absorbed into the story and even cried during its finale.
A SPINAL INJURY ENDED HER DANCING CAREER
It is hard to imagine Gwendoline as a dancer unless you hear her describe it. Before the thoughts of becoming an actress crossed her mind, she was a very talented dancer as a child. She lived a very restricted life with her parents making most of her life decisions for her.
A combination of being overcoached and growing really fast was too bad for her girlie dreams. At 11, she suffered a spinal injury that put her blooming dancing career on hold. As much as the injury was devastating, she took it positively as it was possibly time to switch gears. She started acting with interest in classical works.
HER COACH SAID SHE WAS TOO TALL TO ACT
With her dreams in dance shattered, she kicked off her career in acting by enrolling at Drama Centre London. After watching Marylin Monroe’s captivating performance in the 1956 film Bus Stop, she was sure that acting was her calling.
She received massive support from her parents, but at drama school, the reception was harsher than she thought. She was always told that she was too tall ever to become an actor. The criticism, however, prepared her well for the many rejections she would face in Hollywood before her breakthrough.
SHE USED NUDE PHOTOS TO OPPOSE BODY SHAMING
The HBO series was surprisingly not Christie’s first experience with nudity in front of the camera. Christie challenged the world’s stereotypic definition of beauty through her nude photos.
A British artist, Polly Borland, did a nude photoshoot for the actress while she was in drama school to show the world a different type of beauty.
Despite having a body that she described as not beautiful, she took a big step towards coming to terms with her body and image. She, however, admits that it is not something that she would consider redoing, once was enough.
SHE WORKED AS SIMON CALLOW’S DOG WALKER
Like most Hollywood stars, Christie did some odd jobs before getting to the peak of her career in Hollywood. While at drama school, she took up a job as a filling assistant for Simon Callow, a British actor and writer who later became her trusted advisor. Callow was at first looking for someone to organize his 4000 compact CD collection, but Christie turned out to be more resourceful.
After drama school, she became Callow’s dog walker and research assistant, with their relationship growing stronger to the point of mentorship. He encouraged her to become an artist and even went to her plays and gave her feedback.
SHE WANTED TO BE A NUN
The Primetime Emmy Award nominee had some wild thoughts about her career before she got her breakthrough. With all the discouraging comments the actress got in her blooming years, it was only fair that she thought of an alternative career in case acting fails. Her next best option was dropping everything and becoming a nun.
It was a wise plan-B since it required much less effort and auditions. All she had to do was become a dedicated believer. She, however, had a relentless spirit and kept giving showbiz one chance after the other until she made it big and is now a household name.
SHE FACED INTENSE BULLYING WHILE GROWING UP
Bullying shaped Gwendoline's career in a big way because it allowed her to retreat to herself and concentrate on fashion magazines. She was bullied by mates and teachers alike being told repeatedly that she couldn't amount to anything because of her "bad looks and masculine body. " The bullying contributed to her resentment of stereotypical portrayal of women in acting.
She developed a strong liking for Madonna because of the way she defied norms and created a powerful idol for other women against age and looks. Gwendoline also hates bullies and even goes out to model on occasions just to show that a 6ft3 woman can also make it as an actor and model.
SHE DOESN'T KNOW HER ACTUAL AGE
Gwendoline Christie's mysteries trace back to her birth year. It is normal for many female actors to hold back on making their actual age public, but Gwendoline really doesn't know it. She wasn't born in a jungle or something, just a matter of mistakes and choice.
She confirmed that her mum lost her birth certificate while she was small, and she had to get comfortable, not knowing her birthday. Allegedly no one in the family knows her birth year either. She could get records officers to help, but she said she is ok being in the dark for now.