Gwendoline Christie is a breakout star in two of the world's biggest franchises: Game of Thrones and Star Wars. So when it came time to pick what project came next for her, she really didn't have to; she had it written for her by one of the women she most respects: Jane Campion.
The story behind how Christie got cast in the BBC and Sundance Channel co-production Top of the Lake: China Girl is a fairy tale even by Hollywood standards. Christie traces her desire to work with Campion back to when she was 11-years-old. She's followed Campion's career ever since and, as a huge fan of 2013's first season of Top of the Lake, she wrote The Piano director a letter to express her love for the show. When Campion wrote her back several months later, it was to say she had written Christie a part for the much anticipated new season (though Christie still had to audition for the role).
"I think what we’re seeing is that the world is sort of, is developing somewhat, is evolving somewhat in terms of, creatively, the world is recognizing that what we want to see in our entertainment, we want to see people that are representative of ourselves, we want to see different kinds of women, different kinds of men, different kinds of humans," Christie told IGN during a group interview at the 2017 summer TV Critics' Association press tour. "I wouldn’t say I’m at the stage of being able to sort of pick and choose, that’s the rarefied air that the, what is it, 0.001 percent of those movie stars are doing. But I am afforded a little bit more choice."
The woman most people know as Brienne of Tarth or Captain Phasma first got her start in modeling, her statuesque frame immediately making her stand out as a striking figure. Her breakout in the acting realm can be traced back to Game of Thrones, though she was fans' number one pick to play Brienne long before it came time to cast the character back in 2011. In the time since, she's taken on limited, though notable roles bolstered by her own fan following: Commander Lyme in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, and the aforementioned Captain Phasma in the new Star Wars trilogy, who quickly became a figurehead of The Force Awakens' marketing.
But though Christie's character in Top of the Lake: China Girl, Miranda, is a constable in the Sydney Police Force, she's not the same sort of warrior character audiences have seen Christie portray to date. Instead, this season of Top of the Lake allows Christie to dig more into her character's vulnerabilities and insecurities as she investigates a new murder opposite Elisabeth Moss's Robin, the female lead on the show.
"This role is very different for me. It’s very different, particularly in context of what I’ve been lucky enough to be known for. And I feel it’s essential that female directors should be supported," said Christie. "Jane is a brilliant artist. She truly is an auteur. It was no mistake or surprise to look around and see a predominantly female set, and I felt very proud of that, because we need to see more opportunities for women.
"As Jane says, the guys have had it their own way for a long time, and really what this is about is for us as a world to have more interesting stories, that are just more representative of the complex, bizarre, and difficult lives we all lead as human beings. And I’d like to see us all represented. Because otherwise storytelling is less interesting, and why should we be robbed of those human experiences?"
Top of the Lake: China Girl again sees Sydney detective Robin investigating a murder, this time an unidentified Asian girl found at Bondi Beach. But like with the show's first season, Top of the Lake is as interested in peeling back the layers of Robin's life -- and Miranda's, and Robin's estranged daughter Mary (Alice Englert), and Mary's adoptive mother Julia (Nicole Kidman) -- as it is determining who was responsible for the murder.
As for Christie, she's going to continue choosing the stories that inspire and captivate her, be they her future in Star Wars and Game of Thrones, or Top of the Lake: China Girl, or her upcoming roles in Jennifer Yuh Nelson's sci-fi thriller The Darkest Minds. She sees an evolution in Hollywood that affords her the opportunity to get cast in parts as robust and popular as these, but knows she is lucky to be having her time in the spotlight.
"All the Star Wars, and now this. Aren’t you just sick of me? Aren’t you over it?" she said, before bursting into her signature laugh.
Top of the Lake: China Girl airs its three-night event on Sundance Channel from September 10th to September 12th.
Terri Schwartz is Editorial Manager of Entertainment at IGN. Talk to her on Twitter at @Terri_Schwartz.
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