Gwendoline Christie as Larissa Weems
Game of Thrones alum Gwendoline Christie, 44, plays Nevermore’s Principal Weems in Wednesday, tasked with keeping the peace between the school’s students as well as with the local town’s “normie” residents. While Christie is best known for portraying Brienne of Tarth in the HBO series, she’s also appeared in a few other major film franchises.
Christie played Commander Lyme in the final installment of The Hunger Games series, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, in 2015. That same year, she starred as Captain Phasma in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, a role she reprised again in Star Wars: The Last Jedi in 2017.
Playing Principal Weems in Wednesday was a departure from some of Christie’s previous roles. The actress talked with Entertainment Weekly about how much the character meant to her personally, as she got to work with Burton to help shape the role of Nevermore’s fearless leader.
“He said, ‘You can do whatever you like with the character, feel free to make it whatever you want and we’ll keep talking about it,’ ” Christie explained. “And that was an unbelievable opportunity from this great cinematic master.”
She added, “It is the first time I’ve ever felt beautiful on screen.”
As for her life off-screen, Christie has been in a long-term relationship with fashion designer Giles Deacon since 2013. The pair have even collaborated on a project together, as Deacon designed Christie’s wardrobe for her take on Lucifer in Netflix’s adaptation of The Sandman.