Gwendoline Christie discusses Briennes scenes with Jaime Lannister (spoilers)
Spoilers for Game of Thrones.
I’ve never been a shipper for Jaime Lannister and Brienne of Tarth. I liked their scenes together, of course, and the growth of their friendship, and how much they respected each other. The two actors have incredible chemistry together, and I’ve always thought Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is at his best as an actor when he’s up against Gwendoline Christie. Brienne has always seen something better in Jaime, and Jaime has always shown her the best side of himself. She’s always been hung up on him, it’s one of the reasons why she never gave Tormund the time of day. After the Long Night, she basically had to make the decision: Tormund or Jaime? And of course she chose Jaime. She only got him for a few nights though, then he left her to go back to Cersei, even after Brienne begged him to stay with her. I don’t mind that Brienne begged – she really and truly loves him and she was putting it all out there. What I mind is that she was so hung up on him in the first place.
Anyway, Gwendoline Christie finally got to play a love scene and it was great. I strongly suspect that the Game of Thrones people were like “oh wait, Gwen has a great body, we shouldn’t really show it.” Because in real life, Gwendoline is a bombshell, so they had to frump her up for everything. So how does Gwendoline feel about those scenes??
Getting through the Battle of Winterfell with Jaime: “It was very important to me that we saw Jaime and Brienne’s relationship expressed throughout the battle. They’re in a rare situation where they can completely trust and depend on each other. You take a complicated and solid relationship into a brutal and mind-blowing apocalyptic war. Does it break them apart or force them closer together? You take that relationship and put it into the highest stakes possible and it gets stronger and they worked together completely.
Whether Jaime & Brienne were ever meant as a love story: “It’s been this strange relationship between a man and woman that’s never been able to find it’s true form. Brienne has also felt something of an obligation toward Jaime due to losing his hand to save her honor. It’s something he chooses to do, but she’s sensitive and aware of it. So there is something that seems tangible between them, but she’s never had a relationship before and he’s only had a relationship with his sister. So you’re dealing with two people who are not terribly functional in the emotional world. I think going through sharing the experience of surviving the war together and saving each others’ lives continuously proves to be a very heady combination. Physicality often releases emotion and I think that’s what happens — working together unlocked them.
What she thought of the sex scene: “What’s always important to me is the “how.” Not the “what,” it’s the “how.” It’s important to me how these things come about. I felt it was important to see a moment of choice from Brienne where she chooses to do this. Brienne is a virgin. As far as we know, Brienne hasn’t had a sexual or romantic encounter before. In the books, the character sleeps in her armor to protect herself. It’s important that she choose to explore life in that way and have that experience. I was pleased that if something happens between her and another character that she wants it. I like that she instigated it. As an unconventional woman that we’ve seen grown, I enjoy that she decided to grow in a different way.
How Nikolaj reacted to reading the scene: “I received a text from [Jaime actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau] just laughing. I sent back a being sick emoji. How modern.
A woman in full: “I went through a whole thought process looking at it from many different angles and thought the writing is very good here. This is what makes a character three dimensional, truly. It gives her the agency to explore all the different elements of her life. She’s not just a woman who can fight incredibly well and doesn’t have any need for anything else. She is a woman, she’s a human, she fights brilliantly, she also has some desire of companionship and sensual love.
There’s tons more in that interview and Gwendoline feels very strongly about Brienne, obviously. I just think Brienne has a bad picker – after all the sh-t she and Jaime have been through together, she thought it was love but really, it was just friendship. She should have gone with Tormund, damn it! He would have married her and treated her like a queen! Anyway, I don’t think less of Brienne for banging Jaime or for trying to convince him to stay with her. I just wish she had made different choices.
Photos courtesy of HBO/Game of Thrones.
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