Game of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie revealed that she had pretty strong feelings when she first met with executive producer and director Tim Burton about starring in the hit new Netflix series Wednesday. As one of many reasons the show is already so beloved, Christie seems to be an indispensable part of the cast. But she wasn't necessarily so confident initially.
In a recent interview, Christie spoke about her character in the Addams Family spinoff series and her experience on the show. It turns out that not only did she have a satisfying amount of creative freedom with playing Principal Larissa Weems, but she was rendered nearly speechless when Burton first spoke to her about joining the cast of the Netflix series. As a fan of his work, she was caught off-guard when she found out the feeling was mutual.
When speaking with WWD, Christie revealed how shocked she was when she first found out she was being considered for a role in a new Addams Family project by Burton. It started with a text, and things escalated from there. "'Tim Burton would like to speak to you about his latest project. It's the Addams Family,'" she recited from the initial text message. "And truly, I stopped and went silent. I'm fairly certain I atomized. And then by some mysterious force, I came back together into something at least partially resembling a human being, and I had to just put the phone away and carry on. I didn't even say anything for a little bit because I just had to process."
This feeling got even more intense when she finally had her first call with Burton, only to discover that the Batman 1989 director was as big a fan of her as she was of him. This resulted in a hilarious mutual bashfulness during the meeting. "At the end [of the call], I was really red in the face and I said, 'I'm sorry, I'm just so embarrassed and overwhelmed.' And he said, 'God, I want to hide under the table,'" Christie added.
Apparently, after playing a fierce swordfighter in Game of Thrones, Wednesday was a nice change of pace for Christie, and the show's success was a wonderful surprise. "It's just inconceivable," she gushed about the positive response to Wednesday and her character. "I think the loveliest thing about it is that it seems to have made so many people happy. Such a wide range of different age groups are watching it and different people are watching it together. And it's a beautiful thing. This magnitude of response is totally unexpected, and I just feel full of gratitude to everybody involved that works so hard and to everybody for watching and enjoying it. I really do. It's very special."
It's no surprise that Wednesday is a success, given its stellar ensemble cast. Christie has even hinted that she'll return for Wednesday season 2. So fans can rest easy knowing they'll likely see more of Principal Weems in the future, and Christie will get to continue doing what she loves.
Wednesday is available to stream on Netflix.
Source: WWD