The Game of Thrones star also discussed how her female stormtrooper character promotes diversity in storytelling

Star Wars Actress Gwendoline Christie Confirms She Will Be in the Next Film

Gwendoline Christie is returning to the big screen for next Star Wars installment.

“I will be in the next Star Wars movie. I think that’s an exclusive, actually,” the actress told PEOPLE Deputy Editor JD Heyman on Saturday’s red carpet preshow for the 2016 SAG Awards.

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It’s exciting news, especially considering Christie was super amped about the role of Captain Phasma in the latest film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

“I was very overexcited. I made no secret of the fact that I really campaigned for the part for a long time,” said Christie, 37. “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.”

The actress continued, reveling over the “incredible” costume and that fact that she would have the rare opportunity to play a female stormtrooper – a role she hopes will bring more diverse jobs to other women in Hollywood.

“I thought the costume was incredibly striking. I also just liked this notion of a female stormtrooper,” Christie said. “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.”

Earlier this month, the 6-ft., 3-in. Game of Thrones star told PEOPLE that she also liked that, while her Star Wars costume was amazing, she loved that it was armor.

“I was struck by how incredible it looked, but also I liked that it was stormtrooper armor,” Christie said at the time. “It hadn’t been sexualized or feminized in any way. I thought, ‘That is interesting. That’s very modern.'”