GWENDOLINE Christie famously stands at a staggering 6’3”, while her Game Of Thrones co-star Maisie Williams measures in at a diminutive 5’1”.
The vast contrast in the actresses’ statistics meant the sparring sword scene in The Spoils of War, the fourth episode of the now-concluded seventh season, was a tense and spectacular watch.
Behind-the-scenes footage released from producers, as part of the eagerly-anticipated The Game Revealed series, has now shown the amazing intricacies of the sword fight between the duo, who play Brienne and Arya respectively.
Naturally Game Of Thrones fans want an insight into how the show’s stunning $5.5 million episodes work, meaning the warm welcome of The Game Revealed series, which dissects the details of the epic show.
In the episode in question, Brienne is in the throes of intense sword-training with squire Podrick during which she winds up knocking him down — after which Arya steps in and shockingly reveals she wanted to take on her staggering guardian.
Arya’s sister Sansa and Littlefinger watch on in fascination as Brienne initially goes gently with the young fighter before she is spectacularly outmanoeuvred by Arya who uses the skills she acquired from her trainer Syrio Forel.
Due to the shocking difference in height, the view into how the fight was carried out behind the scenes was welcome with the video making for amazing viewing.
As the women are initially seen in a gym-style room with crash mats, they were both sporting white T-shirts and tight leggings as they threw themselves expertly into rehearsing for the sparring session.
Cinematographer Robert McLachlan said of the scene: “The fun thing about the Arya-Brienne thing is we didn’t have to do too much to it to make it really fun to watch, because everyone has wanted to see these two together for a really long time. If they didn’t know they did, they do now.”
Christie added: “It was so exciting to train for that fight and we trusted each other,” while Maisie went on: “To be fighting Gwen who is far over a foot taller than me and for her fighting someone who is far, far shorter than her, it’s been a massive challenge.”
Rowley Irlam, stunt co-ordinator on the show, said: “Generally as you attack you move forward and as you defend you move back.
“They have completely different sizes of gate and of step and that was a gigantic challenge to choreograph that and deal with those issues. We use stunt doubles for their skill sets and put them in harms way to a degree.”
In reference to the way the scene played out with character development, Christie went on: “In a fight it’s so much more than just choreography. Every movement says something about the character and tells the story of two very different role models”.
This story originally appeared in the NZ Herald.
