Sassy Stormtrooper Gwendoline Christie

Gwendoline Christie plays a Stormtrooper with “a heavy dose of sass” in ‘Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens’. The difference being this time was, Vulture had just gotten confirmation from screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan that Phasma was originally male.

Kasdan told Buchanan that the script was constantly changing, even as costumes were being planned and casting was happening.

Gwendoline Christie and her boyfriend Giles Deacon have discussed a gown dedicated to the actress’ Star Wars character Captain Phasma.

In her interview with the Los Angeles Times, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy said that Captain Phasma was an important character and a baddie in the best sense of the word.

“Really?” Christie said, her mouth dropping open.

“You couldn’t have three more different people than J.J”. Christie recalled that Kennedy had asked her if she had ever googled female heroines. “When the idea came up to make Phasma female, it was instantaneous: Everyone just said, ‘Yes”. A photo from that session quickly made its way online, and while Star Wars fans were thrilled to see actors like John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, and Domhnall Gleeson had been added to the cast, only one new actress was pictured at the table read-Daisy Ridley, as the film’s new lead Rey-and that didn’t offer much for a big-screen franchise that can boast less than a handful of significant female characters. Vulture also spoke to Christie, and brought up the same point.

When he told Kasdan’s quote, Christie said, “I think that’s great of them, don’t you?” she said. To celebrate these incredible characters, Fandango.com commissioned artist Chrissie Zullo to make portraits of the Star Wars heroines, and villains, in awesome comic book form. Now, we can rest assured that at least one of the new characters being introduced this December will not die when the Resistance blows up the Starkiller Base (whose destruction isn’t a spoiler, but a hypothetical guess).

Christie, who has become a fan favorite for her role as Brienne of Tarth on HBO’s “Game of Thrones”, reveals a discussion with Kennedy about female heroes is what piqued her interest in Phasma.