This post is spoiler free for Games of Thrones fans who’ve not yet read the books. The Maid of Tarth, Brienne “the Beauty” makes her appearance in the TV show in the second season. She was going to be hard to cast because she’s a knight, because she kicks arse and because she’s very tall.
Step forward actress Gwendoline Christie. How’s this for tall?
Yeah. She’s the tall one. The stunning looking one. And.. oh, wait. That’s going to be a challenge too – there’s a reason why The Maid of Tarth is called “the Beauty” and it’s not because she’s good looking. I’m sure make-up can fix that.
George R. R. Martin, author, super-god and blogger wrote about the casting in his LJ.
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. No, when she auditioned, she did not look she does in the photo above. She came in looking … well, like Brienne.
