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Game of Thrones' Gwendoline Christie swore off combat scenes after that show, then Ben Stiller called her for Severance and she rekindled her "bloodlust"

How Ben Stiller convinced Gwendoline Christie to return to the action genre

News by Joshua Lapin-Bertone, Contributing writer

Published on Mon Jun 09 2025

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Gwendoline Christie was ready for a change of pace. After a stint as a First Order stormtrooper, the ruler of the underworld, and a Westeros warrior, the actress said she was done with combat scenes.

Then Ben Stiller called.

Flashforward to 2025, and Gwendoline Christie has joined the cast of the Apple TV+ thriller Severance. During the season two finale, Christie’s character Lorne has a memorable action sequence as she takes on Drummond. Like most fights the actress has filmed, this one ended with her character victorious.

“I loved the fight scene,” Gwendoline Christie says during an appearance at PaleyFest LA 2025. “I loved it. As I have said, I deliberately chose not to do anything involving any kind of combat after Game of Thrones, and then unfortunately one day I got a phone call from Ben Stiller, and he told me about this fight scene in Severance, my favorite TV show in the world. So, I just said yes. And I found I still have a bloodlust.”

I doubt that Severance will get as bloody as Game of Thrones, but there’s no telling how violent the next season could get. As of this writing, there is no release date for Severance season three, but it’s likely to stream sometime in 2026. When it does, be on the lookout for Christie, because there’s no telling what she’ll do.

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Joshua Lapin-Bertone: Joshua is a pop culture writer specializing in comic book media. His work has appeared on the official DC Comics website, the DC Universe subscription service, HBO Max promotional videos, the Batman Universe fansite, and more. In between traveling around the country to cover various comic conventions, Joshua resides in Florida where he binges superhero television and reads obscure comics from yesteryear.