Gwendoline Christie, popular for her role as the tough and brawny Lady Brienne of Tarth of HBO's cult television series "Game of Thrones," will play a chrometrooper, a new breed of stormtrooper, in the highly anticipated "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."

The news broke after a photo from the "Star Wars" tribute issue of Vanity Fair leaked online earlier this morning. The photo is that of Gwendoline Christie donning a stunning shiny armoured metal chrometrooper named Captain Phasma.

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Soon after the leak, one of the magazine's writer, Joanna Robinson, tweeted the official image, confirming that indeed Gwendoline Christie will be playing the character.

In J.J. Abrams's forthcoming "Star Wars: The Force AwaKens," the 6ft 3iin actress' role, Captain Phasma, is an officer of the First Order, an evil organization that materialized from the remains of the Galactic Empire, and commanding officer to the character Finn.

Interestingly enough, First Order is allied with new villain Kylo Ren, played by Adam Driver, who is remembered for his roles as Samuel Beckwith in Steven Spielberg's Oscar-nominated film "Lincoln," as Lev Shapiro in Noel Baumbach's "Frances Ha," and as musician Al Cody in the Coen Brothers' film "Inside Llewyn Davis."

Gwendoline Christie and Driver's characters will likely have a confrontation or two in the movie, which will be exciting character dynamics.

The 36-year-old Gwendoline Christie is also known for her roles as Lexi in the science fantasy series "Wizards vs Aliens," and has appeared in minor roles in Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" and "The Zero Theorem."

Apart from appearing in the seventh installment in the episodic Star Wars film series, Gwendoline Christie will also appear in "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2" as Commander Lyme.

Prior to this leak, quite a few key characters of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" have been revealed last week by Lucasfilm, including Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Finn (John Boyega). These were made public when Lucasfilm published online a set of images similar to game trading cards.

TagsBrienne of Tarth, Star Wars, chrometrooper, Gwendoline Christie