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All hail Ser Brienne of Tarth: Gwendoline Christie submitted herself for an Emmy.

 

 

If Brienne of Tarth was not one of your favourite Game of Thrones characters… you were probably watching it wrong.

She was strong, loyal and just generally kick-arse – and she was portrayed perfectly by the absolutely glorious Gwendoline Christie.

This week Christie was nominated for a (much-deserved) Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her efforts, but when her name was read out, HBO, the studio behind Game Of Thrones, may have been a bit… surprised.

The shows final season had picked up a record-setting 32 nominations, but um, if it weren’t for the initiative of Christie, plus a couple of other very important cast members, that number would’ve been at least three less.

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There's no limit to how many nominations a studio can put forward, but for whatever reason, HBO decided not to nominate Christie, Alfie Allen (the redeemed Theon Greyjoy) and Carice van Houten (Melisandre).

But each of them took it upon themselves, paying the US$225 (AU$320) fee out of their own pockets to put themselves into the pool of contention.

And for all three, it paid off.

Christie joins cast members Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister), Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) and Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) in the supporting actress category.

Allen is nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, alongside co-stars Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister) and Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), and van Housten is nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series.

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According to The Hollywood Reporter, that is pretty unusual: "It is not at all uncommon for long-shot performers to be entered for Emmy consideration by their reps or themselves – but it is uncommon for those entries to result in nominations," it said.

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When the internet realised Christie, Allen and van Houten were nominated thanks to themselves, thousands of fans... lost it.

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The absolute best part of this is knowing that each of these actors were so proud of their own performances, they felt compelled to put themselves forward for an award as prestigious and high-profile as an Emmy even without a powerful studio backing them.

This is the level of self-love, confidence and belief we should all aspire to have.

From now on, whenever we are doubting our abilities or feeling underappreciated we must channel our inner-Brienne, Theon or red priestess and DO THE DAMN THING.