Gwendoline Christie of Game of Thrones and Star Wars fame is part of the sprawling cast of The Sandman which premieres August 5 on Netflix. The ten-episode series is based on the original DC/Vertigo comic book creation of Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, and Mike Dringenberg. On The Sandman, Gwendoline Christie plays Lucifer Morningstar, the ruler of Hell, and we first see the character in Episode 3 of the series, “A Hope in Hell.” Fans of TV might recognize the character name as being the basis for the role Tom Ellis played on Lucifer; this is a different but still fantastic take, perhaps more resembling the version of Lucifer Morningstar seen in Sandman comics.
KSiteTV was part of a roundtable interview with Gwendoline Christie this year at Comic-Con, as she talked a bit about her take on the character and the show. You can read that below. Browse KSiteTV for more Sandman content!
How much fun is it to play a character as deep as Lucifer Morningstar?
I have to say, I had an absolute blast. It was really extraordinary, because the timing was was strange… it kind of came about at the very start of the pandemic where we didn’t know what was happening. I was speaking with Allan [Heinberg] and Neil [Gaiman], ane they were really fantastic people. They were so loving, and open, and really wanted to collaborate, and they actually really wanted to know what my ideas were.
I wanted the challenge so badly to play something very different from Brienne of Tarth, who I loved playing, but I want to play such a wide range of roles. The fact that they could see me as that character was invigorating to me, maybe worried [laughs], but it was really invigorating [that] they could see something in me that could work.
When I received the script, so incredibly well written and very resolved. It was clearly structured very, very well. and they wanted to talk about the visual sense. We all knew we wanted it to be like the comics, and that we wanted it to have that essence of the comics, but they were really open as to how I was going to play the part. I really appreciated that. And then when I got to work with Tom [Sturridge] – he was so dedicated to bringing everything to it, and taking it so incredibly seriously… he has such integrity as an actor. He’s so talented, but he’s very respectful. So we can go further in terms of how we treated each other in a space that was respectful and safe, and have some fun outside of it. It became very emotional. I really loved it.
Can you talk about Lucifer’s relationship with the members of the Endless?
Lucifer is a bit scathing, about I think Lucifer, as ruler of Hell, absolutely sees themselves as above and beyond them. But simultaneously, I suspect [Lucifer] is covering up a very deep and secret jealousy of the familial bond. Lucifer is isolated, and I think something that we’ve all felt during this time is that isolation is also a terrible disease.
Is there anyone in the cast that you wish you had been able to work with more than you were able to work with?
Now that I’ve met them all for the first time, I want to work with all of them. I think they’re brilliant in their roles. Really brilliant, really unique, really individual… I really want to work with them all. I really do. I would love to work with Mason [Alexander Park, who plays Desire]. I would love to work with Johanna Constantine [Jenna Coleman]. I would love to work with the Corinthian [Boyd Holbrook]. They’re just really immersed in their roles. And that’s the fun of this, that you get to be a character coming up against someone else who’s also completely a character, and then you just see what comes up.
The Sandman premieres August 5 on Netflix.