Why Gwendoline From Army Of Thieves Looks So Familiar
The 2021 film "Army of The Dead" marked director Zack Snyder's first collaboration with Netflix following the release of "Zack Snyder's Justice League" on HBO Max earlier in the year. The shift to a new streamer was big for the director, who brought his visionary talent — as seen in "300" and "Watchmen" — to the platform. "Army of the Dead" focuses on a group of mercenaries who navigate through zombie-filled Las Vegas in an attempt to pull off a lucrative heist. The film's ensemble featured numerous memorable characters whose stories fans wanted to know more about.
One of them is German safecracker Ludwig Dieter, played by Matthias Schweighöfer. The actor reprises his character in the upcoming Netflix movie "Army of Thieves," a prequel film following Dieter six years before the events of "Army of the Dead." As teased in the official trailer, which debuted at Netflix's Tudum event, Gwendoline, the ringleader of a crew planning an elaborate heist, recruits Dieter. Their team's mission seems simple: Break into three different safes located across Europe.
In addition to the excitement of spending more time with arguably the most charming character in "Army of the Dead," some may be wondering about the rest of the prequel movie's characters, particularly Gwendoline. If Nathalie Emmanuel, the actress who plays the character, seems familiar, but you can't quite place her, here's where you may have seen her in action previously.
Nathalie Emmanuel got her start on a British soap opera
According to her IMDb profile, Nathalie Emmanuel made her onscreen acting debut in 2007 on "Hollyoaks," the long-running U.K. soap opera that revolves around a group of close-knit individuals and their families. Emmanuel plays Sasha Valentine, making her first appearance as part of the Valentine family, which also included Ricky Whittle, who went on to star in "The 100" and "American Gods" (via Daily Star).
During her time on "Hollyoaks," Emmanuel also appeared as Sasha Valentine in two spinoffs, "Hollyoaks Later" and "Hollyoaks: The Morning After the Night Before." Per the Hollyoaks Fandom page for Sasha, this soap opera character has been through the wringer. During the character's time on the show, she loses her mother to a hit-and-run accident, she discovers her father had an affair, and she enters into a destructive relationship that leads to her using hard drugs. Emmanuel eventually left the series in 2010; on "Hollyoaks," Sasha Valentine goes to London following the breaking of her bond with her brother Calvin (Whittle).
Emmanuel played a key role on HBO's Game of Thrones
In 2013, Nathalie Emmanuel made the jump to American television. She made her debut as Missandei — a breakout role for the U.K. actor — on the HBO fantasy series "Game of Thrones" in the Season 3 premiere, "Valar Dohaeris" (via IMDb). Missandei is one of many characters pulled from George R.R. Martin's book series "A Song Of Ice And Fire." In the series, she is introduced as an interpreter who eventually serves Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) after the exiled royal secures her freedom as part of a deal.
Over the ensuing seasons, Missandei develops a romance with Grey Worm (Jacob Anderson), the commander of an Unsullied army, and helps Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) after he saves her life during an attack. She also becomes a close confidante and counselor to Daenerys, traveling with her as she rises to power. Emmanuel remained on "Game of Thrones" as Missandei until its final season in 2019.
She joined two huge film franchises in 2015
During her time on "Game of Thrones," Nathalie Emmanuel continued to appear in films. Following her feature film debut in the movie "Twenty8K," she leaped into the work of studio tentpoles with her debut in "Furious 7," part of the "Fast & Furious" franchise, in 2015 (via IMDb). In "Furious 7," she plays Ramsey, a hacker and the creator of a program called "God's Eye." After the group mount a daring rescue to save her from a terrorist named Mose Jakande (Djimon Hounsou), Ramsey helps the team when God's Eye falls into Jakande's hands. The stealthy hacker works to get into God's Eye and thwart Jakande and Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) and becomes an official crew member by the end of the film. Ramsey returns in 2017's "The Fate of the Furious" and 2021's "F9."
Emmanuel also appeared in the 2015 film "Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials," per IMDb, the second installment in the "Maze Runner" franchise. She plays Harriet, a member of an all-female group that underwent the same trials as the group in the first film. The actress reprised the role for the third entry in the franchise, "Maze Runner: The Death Cure," in 2018, where Harriet works with the survivors to find the Safe Haven.
Emmanuel led an ensemble cast in the Hulu update of a '90s romcom
Following her time on "Game of Thrones," Nathalie Emmanuel made the jump from HBO to Hulu in 2019. At that time, she starred in the romantic comedy miniseries "Four Weddings and a Funeral." The series is based on the 1994 Richard Curtis film of the same name and is co-created by "The Mindy Project" alum Mindy Kaling. In the series, Emmanuel plays Maya, one in a group of American expats living and working in London. Maya has a meet-cute with an investment banker and aspiring actor named Kash (Nikesh Patel) at the airport before discovering he's the fiancé of her best friend Ainsley (Rebecca Rittenhouse), whose wedding brought her to London.
The show also follows the quartet and others in their social circle, including Kash and Ainsley's friend Gemma (Zoe Boyle), over a single year as they go through ups and downs, both professionally and personally. As a member of the leading ensemble, Hulu's "Four Weddings" marks Emmanuel's biggest television role to date.
She co-starred with Kevin Hart on a Quibi comedy
Nathalie Emmanuel appeared in the 2020 Kevin Hart-led comedy series "Die Hart." The show, which also stars John Travolta, debuted on the now-defunct streaming service Quibi before making the leap to Roku and getting rebranded as a Roku original (via Los Angeles Times). In the series, Emmanuel plays Jordan King, a student at a school that creates movie-ready action stars who must compete with fellow student Kevin Hart, a fictionalized version of the actor.
Emmanuel's performance in "Die Hart" earned the film and television star her first Emmy nomination in 2021. She was nominated in the outstanding actress in a short-form comedy or drama series. Unfortunately, Emmanuel lost the award to Keke Palmer for her performance in "Turnt Up with the Taylors," according to the official Emmys site.
"Army of Thieves" will be available to stream on Netflix beginning Friday, October 29.