Heading into STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS, many fans expected big things from the new character Captain Phasma. After all, she had a very striking costume, a very cool name, and she was being played by Gwendoline Christie of HBO’s hit series GAME OF THRONES. So when the film came out and it turned out that there was actually very little Phasma, some were surprised. She made two key appearances, was banished off to a trash compactor, and then her fate when the Starkiller Base was destroyed wasn’t even acknowledged in the film.

So was that it? 

According to Christie: No.

During an interview on the red carpet for Saturday night’s SAG Awards, Christie revealed that she would, indeed, be back for STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII. “I will be in the next Star Wars movie. I think that’s an exclusive, actually,” she said. 

Then, talking about the experience of being cast in THE FORCE AWAKENS, Christie said, “I was very overexcited. I made no secret of the fact that I really campaigned for the part for a long time,” she gushed. “And then I was delighted when J.J. Abrams wanted to have me in the film and then wanted to cast me in this role that had originally been designed for a man.“

Things then got a little deep, as Christie discussed the importance of the decision to gender-swap the role. “I also just liked this notion of a female stormtrooper. I felt it encouraged diversity and it was doing something new and it was an interesting bit of casting for women, and I hope that in something that was such a mainstream success it would breed more of those kind of opportunities for other women,” the actress shared.

And on the topic of that bad ass costume, Christie said, “I was struck by how incredible it looked, but also I liked that it was stormtrooper armor. It hadn’t been sexualized or feminized in any way. I thought, ‘That is interesting. That’s very modern.’“

We’ll be seeing more of Captain Phasma when STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII, directed by Rian Johnson, comes out in December of 2017.

SOURCE: People