Gwendoline Christie Says She Submitted Herself for an Emmy as a 'Testament’ to Brienne

Gwendoline Christie received an Emmy nomination last month in the category of Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Ser Brienne of Tarth in the HBO series Game of Thrones, but it required some work on her part.

Christie paid the $225 entry fee in order to submit herself for Emmy consideration, a fee that is typically covered by the studio. Why would she go such lengths to just have a shot a nomination that she admittedly never expected to happen? Christie says it was all for her character and the journey she took throughout the show’s eight-season run.

"I checked that it wasn’t an inappropriate thing to do, and I was told it wasn’t. People submit themselves all the time," Christie told the Los Angeles Times. "I truly never expected it to manifest in a nomination and I don’t think anybody else did either. But I just had to do it for me. And I had to do it as a testament to the character and what I feel she represents."

Before you go on a personal diatribe about how one of Ser Brienne's final moments on Thrones involved her begging a man—yeah, yeah, Jaime Lannister, whatever—to stay with her while wrapped in a blanket outside in the freezing cold, let Gwendoline explain herself.

"When you’re about to lose something that has truly meant something to you, it can destroy you, and I don’t think there’s any weakness in that," Christie said. "What I liked was that happens, but then she goes back to work. She doesn’t follow him, does she? She stays with Sansa and she does her duty. And she did get her happy ending, and her happy ending wasn’t defined by a man."