Star Wars' first female movie villain calls the role 'a fangirl's dream'

Whoever is in charge of the official Star Wars Facebook account recently schooled a fan who complained about Captain Phasma's armor.

Captain Phasma is one of the villains of the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and that's just about all we know about the character, other than the fact she's played by Gwendoline Christie, who also plays Brienne of Tarth on a little show called Game of Thrones.

Christie recently talked about playing the character to Entertainment Weekly. "We know 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 said. "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 still don't know if we'll ever seen the character without the mask, which means much of the performance had to be physical."It wasn’t just about what I was expressing above the neck, it was also as focused on what I was expressing below the neck," Christie explained. "It was an interesting acting experience as well as a fangirl’s dream."

The Force Awakens is the first Star Wars movie that seems to value a diverse cast, and Captain Phasma, with her non-sexualized armor and imposing presence, is a great addition to the film. During the midnight launch of the Star Wars toys I bumped into someone looking at a picture of Captain Phasma and remarked that "he" was probably going to be the next Boba Fett. I gently corrected them.

"That's actually a woman, it's Captain Phasma," I said.

They seemed taken aback. "Really?" They had reason to be skeptical, this is the first time this has happened in the films.

"She’s Star Wars’ first female villain," Christie says. "It’s incredible, it’s timely, and I’m very proud to be a part of it."