The Mary Sue

“All my life, all I’ve ever wanted is for people to say — first of all — I’m pretty. But ‘too pretty’? Is amazing,” she says. “I also loved that they said, ‘Who’s this model?’ I only ever wanted to be a model. This acting thing — three years of drama school — is an accident! I was like, ‘Wow, they think I’m a model?’ I didn’t mind it at all. I knew all the things I wanted to do to become the part. I’ve always been able to look very different very easily.”

The 6′ 3″ actress also spoke with New Zealand’s Stuff about training to play Brienne. She apparently took up kickboxing, quit drinking, lost weight and put it back on in muscle. ”What I think is so brilliant about this show is that it takes an outsider and an archetype which isn’t often seen – the extremely tall woman who has strength that can match that of her male counterparts – and explores that,” she said, also adding, “I’ve been taught how to break a man’s nose with my elbow.”