How Gwendoline Christie Finally Felt Like a Lady After Having to Always Play Masculine Roles Because of Her Body

Standing at 6’3″, Gwendoline Christie certainly doesn’t go unnoticed. The actress has been fully open about the challenges she’s had to face in the industry and how her height significantly impacted which roles she could take. And today, Christie is feeling more comfortable than ever in her own skin and is sharing her unique journey in all honesty.

She’s always been typecast in certain roles.

We’ve grown accustomed to seeing Christie in popular movies or hit TV shows, such as Star Wars, The Hunger Games, and Game of Thrones. And speaking of her role as Brienne of Tarth in the latter, the actress says that the character was ’’bold and assured and proud," however, she also acknowledges that playing Brienne was a big challenge.

The 44-year-old admits that her character ’’was often looked down upon because of the way she looked and her aim to be a woman and a knight.’’ She also noted, ’’That character was having to overcome a lot of shame regarding the way society treated the character.’’

And to get into the skin of her character, Christie had to transform herself and adopt Brianne’s ultra-masculine look. She revealed, ’’I had to take my hair away. I had to acknowledge my height, my strength, my size, my androgyny, and also my vulnerability. But I also had to really go down to the gym!’’

She finally found the role that made her feel beautiful.

However, Christie’s more recent role as Larissa Weems in the hit series, Wednesday, was very different from her older parts. She even revealed, ’’It is the first time I’ve ever felt beautiful on-screen.’’

And the actress gives major credit to the show’s costume designer, Colleen Atwood, for making her feel right in her element.

Christie explained that she and Atwood sat down and discussed the visual aesthetic of Larissa and had ’’these wonderful fittings.’’

The star praised the designer, saying, ’’She always made me feel celebrated. She made me feel that my body was beautiful — that I was beautiful, that I wear clothes well, and that my ideas were welcome and relevant.’’

Fashion has always been there for her.

Despite having a more challenging path as an actor, Christie admitted that she always felt that the fashion industry welcomed her with open arms. She noted, "It took a long time for me to feel embraced by the acting industry, but the fashion industry did embrace me.’’ She also explained that as she was growing up, fashion was her ’’most immediate way of transforming.’’

But as she grew older, her opinion of her body changed. The actress shared, ’’You either exist in a state of shame about not fitting into society or you embrace what you have.’’

And luckily, Christie ended up accepting and loving her unique height and frame. She also notes that as time goes by, you learn ’’to inhabit who you are, fully.’’

What do you think of Gwendoline Christie’s new direction in roles?