Gwendoline Christie on Top of the Lake: 'Jane Campion had been dreaming about me and wrote me a part'

After leaving the Drama Centre in London with a first-class degree in 2005, Gwendoline Christie made her professional debut in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of Great Expectations. It was an apt choice, as it is fair to say that since then Christie has more than fulfilled her great expectations.

In 2011, the actress was catapulted from relative anonymity to worldwide superstardom after being cast as the implacable and apparently invincible warrior, Brienne of Tarth, in the planet-conquering HBO fantasy drama Game of Thrones.

Christie took the casting call very seriously indeed. George RR Martin, the author of the source novels as well as the show’s executive producer and co-writer, recalls that the actress was a shoo-in for the role the moment she arrived at the audition in full Brienne costume and make-up.

She has been a great hit as the armour-clad fan favourite. Critics have lauded her “eloquent and economical physical performance”, and the role won her the Empire Hero Award in 2015. She has also inspired numerous fan sites, which revel in such titles as “Glorious Gwendoline Christie”. Her Twitter account – “@lovegwendoline” – has nearly half a million followers.

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Following well-regarded performances as the villainous Captain Phasma in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: The Last of the Jedi and as Commander Lyme in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, Christie is about to take one of the lead roles in the eagerly anticipated screen adaptation of Alexandra Bracken’s best-selling dystopian trilogy The Darkest Minds.

In just six short years, the 38-year-old from Worthing in West Sussex has become one of the most in-demand actresses in this universe and the next.

Christie, who has also enjoyed success as a model, certainly grabs your attention. As she enters the room for our interview, she is dressed in a flowery golden skirt with matching golden heels. These chime with her arresting platinum blonde hair. A compelling presence, this is a woman who commands the room. It is impossible to look anywhere else.

The actress, who stands six foot three, begins by celebrating the fact that she has been handed the chance to inhabit so many interesting and unorthodox roles. “I’ve always wanted to play parts outside conventional norms,” she says. “That’s why it was so brilliant when I was given the opportunity to play Brienne of Tarth in Game of Thrones.

“I enjoy giving voice to a section of society that is not being given a voice. I don’t play conventional women. I’ve been enormously lucky that those sorts of roles are starting to appear in entertainment. I truly hope that I can continue to represent unconventional women.”

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Christie is delighted, too, that these marginalised characters often strike a chord with audiences. “My interest lies in the margins of society, as someone who feels that is sometimes where she has existed. I never expect results. But if even one person feels heard or feels stronger as a result of watching my work, then I think I’ve done my job.”

The actress once again has the chance to incarnate an intriguing outsider in her latest role. In Top of the Lake: China Girl, a follow-up to Jane Campion’s widely praised 2013 detective drama, Christie plays a Sydney detective called Miranda.

When the body of a young woman washes up in a suitcase on Bondi Beach, Miranda, the local investigating officer, teams up with Robin (Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men), the troubled ’tec from the first series. Their investigation soon leads them into the heart of darkness of the Sydney sex industry.

Christie reveals that she got the part by characteristically unusual means. A huge fan of Campion’s work, which also includes the Oscar-winning 1993 movie, The Piano, the actress penned a letter to the director after watching the first series of Top of the Lake.

She says: “I didn’t have the nerve to send the letter for 18 months”. In the end, she passed it to Campion via a mutual friend. “I got a lovely note back,” Christie recollects. Then, four months later, out of the blue, the actress received another missive from the director, stating simply: “I’ve been dreaming about you. I’ve written you a part.”

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Christie was particularly pleased to take on the role, as Miranda is very different from the parts that have made the actress famous. “I’ve been very lucky to have the opportunity to play women who are strong and overcome obstacles and use what’s different about them to help,” she says. “They laugh in the face of convention.

“Miranda, however, is the opposite. She doesn’t have much working for her. She’s really struggling to make life function. She doesn’t have a lot of friends and is searching for the opportunity of friendship.”

“Miranda is the opposite of what I’ve been known for. That’s an important and valuable challenge for me. As painful as it is to explore a character who has failed, it’s very real. It’s important to discover what makes us human and give that a voice.”

For Moss, it was a no-brainer to return to Top of the Lake, which is co-written by Campion and Gerard Lee. Sitting next to Christie in a blue leather jacket with a starry pattern and a tartan skater-girl skirt, the 35-year-old actress says that once again she could not resist Top of the Lake’s call. “It covers so many different issues and gives rise to so many questions. That’s the mark of great work. You’re questioning ideas long after you have watched this drama. But it’s also hugely entertaining.”

The principal subject of BBC’s Top of the Lake: China Girl, is motherhood. “There is an overriding theme of what it is to be a mother,” Christie says. “This series investigates different forms of that in ways we are not used to seeing in a TV show.”

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The drama, which co-stars Nicole Kidman and the director’s daughter, Alice Englert, also offers a fascinating account of female friendship. “It’s a very thorough investigation of the dynamics of a female relationship,” Christie says.

“It starts from a place of imbalance, and then it swings wildly through what it is to be a friend. It examines all those complexities. To explore that through a female dynamic is what’s really fresh and interesting about this series.”

Moss, who has also starred in the acclaimed recent drama, The Handmaid’s Tale, says: “Playing the relationship between Robin and Miranda has been my favourite part of this season. It’s very rare that you see a female relationship like that explored in film or TV. They are both strong, intelligent and flawed women. They’re both on the margins, and they’re thrown together. You spend the whole series thinking, ‘How does their relationship work?’ Figure that out!

“There are so many complications in their relationship. These two women are pitted against each other. They have secrets and are hiding things from each other. This series examines how that all falls apart. Where it starts is very different from where it ends. I haven’t played that before, and it was thrilling to do.”

Moss goes on to assess whether there are any points of comparison between Robin and her most celebrated character, Peggy in Mad Men. “Robin is much more damaged than Peggy.

“But I don’t compare them. I see them as individual people. In fact, Robin and Miranda are much more similar, and that’s what’s so difficult for Robin. She sees so much of herself in Miranda.”

With the outstanding work they have done in recent years, both Christie and Moss have proved excellent role models, and Top of the Lake: China Girl only serves to reinforce that point.

Moss concludes that, “I’m a feminist – feminism is as important to me as breathing or sleeping. Women are incredibly complex, strong, vulnerable, smart people. I always try to play human beings who I can see myself in.

“The fact that women feel empowered by what I’ve done is very important to me. But it’s just a byproduct of what I do. I didn’t set out when I was six years old saying, ‘I shall be a feminist icon!’

“But it’s wonderful to think that I might be one.”

Top of the Lake: China Girl starts on BBC2 at 9pm on 27 July