07 December 2017
Newsdesk
Actress Gwendoline Christie was reunited with her Game of Thrones fighting trainer as she prepared for a big battle scene in the new Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
The British star reprises her role as Captain Phasma in the follow-up to 2015's Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and this time around, her character is featured in a fight sequence, facing off against John Boyega's former Stormtrooper Finn.
Before production began, Gwendoline spent a little extra time working on her combat skills with C.C. Smiff, the same man responsible for getting her into fighting form for her hit fantasy drama series.
"I was reunited with C.C. Smiff...," she told U.S. breakfast show Good Morning America. "(He) taught me to fight on Game of Thrones, back before season two filming started... He was the man that gave me the confidence and the skills and worked with me for months beforehand and taught me to fight and sword-fight."
Smiff also served as sword master on The Force Awakens, and as fight co-ordinator on 2016 franchise spin-off, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Meanwhile, Gwendoline admits she is still pinching herself for landing her dream role as she has been a fan of Star Wars since watching the original trilogy at the age of six.
"I'd wanted to be in Star Wars my whole life...," the 39-year-old gushed. "I remember saying to my mother..., 'God, I really want to be in a Star Wars movie,' and my mother saying, 'Well, they don't make them anymore.' Then when I heard that this was coming back... I really wanted to be a part of it..."
She even turned down project after project as casting got underway for The Force Awakens so she wouldn't be busy if filmmakers came calling.
Gwendoline recalled, "I was relentless about it, and then I was very lucky to hear that they were interested and then it was a very slow process, because we didn't know if it would work with my schedule for Game of Thrones, but they were very generous and accommodating."
The actress plays warrior Brienne of Tarth in Game of Thrones.
