A major character new character has been cast for “Game of Thrones” Season 2.
Author of the books the series is based on — George R. R. Martin – revealed late Thursday night that British actress Gwendoline Christie will play the role of Brienne, the maid of Tarth.
Brienne joins the series in Season 2 as a knight of Renly Baratheon’s Rainbow Guard, his name for his own collection of knights, who wear rainbow-colored cloaks.
“This was another one of those cases where there was hardly any debate,” Martin wrote on his blog about the casting choice. “The day the first batch of auditions went up for the role, we looked at a dozen actresses who were reading for Brienne and one actress who WAS Brienne.
“Gwendoline gave a great reading, and her look was just perfect,” he continued. “She came in looking… well, like Brienne.”
Gwendoline is 6’ 3” – an attribute that will help her as she plays the character who in the books is described as having a less than womanly shape, but who can wield a sword as well as a man.
“My parents treated my height as a wonderful thing to be celebrated, but also normal,” the actress, who has appeared on the London stage, previously told the UK’s Independent newspaper. “I love being tall as you literally look at life from a different perspective: it’s easier to breeze through life’s turmoils; there’s more room to breathe.”
The actress had a brief role in Heath Ledger’s last film, “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.”
Season 2 of “Game of Thrones” returns to HBO next year, but production on the series begins this summer in Northern Ireland.
As previously reported on AccessHollywood.com, several members of the cast including Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), Jon Snow (Kit Harington), Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), and Jamie Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) will appear at Comic-Con later this month in San Diego.
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