Gwendoline Christie has praised the approach to her character in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
The Game of Thrones star plays the villainous Captain Phasma in the hotly-anticipated continuation of the space saga, and revealed the film takes a matter-of-fact approach to Phasma's gender.
Everything we know about Star Wars: The Force Awakens, including trailers, cast, release date and spoilers
"We knew very little about her at this stage, but what I think people are drawn to is that this is a very progressive female character," she told EW.
"We see Captain Phasma, and we see the costume from head to toe, and we know that it is a woman. But we are used to, in our media, connecting to female characters via the way that they look, from the way they are made flesh.
"We are actually connecting to a female character as a human being."
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Christie added that she is proud to be representing The Dark Side as Star Wars' first female villain: "It's incredible, it's timely, and I'm very proud to be a part of it."
Before Star Wars, though, the actress will next be seen on the side of the rebels in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 as Commander Lyme, a former District 2 champion.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens arrives in UK cinemas on December 17, 2015 and in US cinemas on December 18, 2015. Watch the stunning final trailer below:
Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
