Gwendoline Christie Will Be Returning for ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’

Game of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie will be returning for Star Wars: Episode VIII.

The actress played Captain Phasma in Star Wars: The Force Awakens – a role that was originally written for a male – and now she has revealed she’ll be back for Episode VIII in 2017.

“I was delighted when J.J. Abrams wanted to have me in the film and then wanted to cast me in this role that had originally been designed for a man,” she told People.com.

“I felt it encouraged diversity and it was doing something new and it was an interesting bit of casting for women, and I hope that in something that was such a mainstream success, it would breed more of those kind of opportunities for other women.”

Gwendoline Christie Will Be Returning for Star Wars: Episode VIII

Captain Phasma is a huge deal in the Star Wars universe and Gwendoline did not take the role lightly.

While depicting the character, she tapped into a very unique set of acting approaches.

“It was very important to (The Force Awakens director) J.J. that I was there acting a part,” she told Variety previously. “I found it to be a really interesting acting challenge, not just because of what I felt this character was representing — and it was just what I felt, and we talked about it a little bit, but it was never like a manifesto, ‘this is what it must be’ — and it was exciting to me to have that weight of responsibility taken away, of having to be a certain way as a woman, to have to be mindful in a way that isn’t always useful.

“It becomes about the way in which you hold your hand, the way in which you walk, where your weight lies and what you want that to mean, and I wanted to give the character identity. I thought it was interesting to make something about the character identifiably female in a non-superficial way, and I hope that comes across.”