When Gwendoline Christie isn't filming “Star Wars,” she's playing Brienne of Tarth on “Game of Thrones.” Which means we get to hear some fun stories from the show during her “Force Awakens” press tour (but precious little about the upcoming season — she told E! that she knows nothing about Jon Snow or even Brienne's fate, as she improvised all her lines and never read the script. Guys, I think maybe she's tired of being asked this stuff that we all know she's not allowed to answer).
On last night's “Late Late Show,” Christie talked about acting opposite a real live bear back in Season 3 of GoT. That would, of course, be the scene where she (and Jaime) face off against a bear at Harrenhal.
The bear was played by Bart the Bear 2, who has his own IMDB page. Bart has been acting ever since he was a cub, successfully navigating the child star to adult transition that many find so difficult. Along the way, it seems he's become a bit demanding when it comes to on-set accommodations. Christie said Bart had his own trailer, was on the set for two weeks before the shoot to “acclimatize,” and had to have country music playing at all times because he apparently finds that soothing. He was also fed cream out of a frying pan as a reward for being good, and had to be given a round of applause every time he stepped out of his trailer. And Christie isn't alone in her opinion of Bart. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau told HBO shortly after the episode aired that Bart was “kind of a diva.”
But the trouble was all worth it, as Christie has called Bart “one of the best actors I've ever worked with,” and Coster-Waldau admitted that “he delivered. He put in a great performance.”