Gwendoline Christie interviewed by Entertainment Weekly (x)
Gwendoline Christie, First of Her Name, Overlord of the Comic-Cons, Skull Crusher.
At San Diego Comic-Con this year while backstage at Hall H, I turned a corner and there, milling around waiting to go on, surrounded by their publicists and handlers and friends, were all the women for the “Women Who Kick Ass” panel.
I’m a tall guy, just a little shy of 6′3″, which makes running into most celebrities at conventions a bit disappointing as you begin to realize they are all tiny toy people. Guys that look huge on screen often turn out to be 5′8″ at most. It’s a let down. It’s that realization that movie magic is a real thing.
But Gwendoline Christie, man. She’s tall. Not Hollywood tall, she’s legit tall. I turn this corner and she’s towering over everyone around her, and that’s not just because she’s tall, it’s because she’s tall and unapologetically wearing high heels. In person, she’s striking and very attractive, but man, that confidence, that attitude of living in a world where women aren’t supposed to make men feel small and she’s standing there emitting this power... It was awesome in the true definition of the word. I immediately felt this admiration that, I presume, is what ancient warriors felt in the presence of a great fighting general. She could have told me that we were gonna charge head long into battle against ten million vikings right there and I would have followed her without a second thought. It was a crazy experience—the first time I saw a celebrity at a con and was actually struck by the experience!
It’s always cool to see celebrities at shows, don’t get me wrong. Short though they may be, it’s fun. But seeing Gwendoline Christie triggered a sort of instant awe and esteem that was unlike anything I’d experienced at a convention before—and I’ve been personally thanked by Edward James Olmos after moderating a Battlestar Galactica panel. I mean, Hayley Atwell, Gal Gadot, Jenna Coleman, and Kathy Freakin’ Bates were all standing right there and, I think I maybe—maybe—only registered Hayley Atwell for a half second. That’s no slam to those rad women, that’s just how completely Gwendoline Christie’s presence commanded this scene I had stumbled into. She’s the real deal.
