Gaia Weiss

Gaia Weiss doesn't fit the typical image of a French actress who only seeks critical acclaim in Paris. She stands nearly six feet tall and has training that blends classical dance with Shakespearean theater in London. That physical foundation shapes almost every movement she makes on screen. In 2013, she landed her first major role in Mary Queen of Scots, playing Mary Fleming.

The commercial opportunity came quickly.

In 2014, she starred in The Legend of Hercules under the direction of Renny Harlin. The movie didn't perform well at the box office, but it opened the door directly to major international productions. That shoot in Bulgaria was especially grueling due to extreme temperatures and the demands of the role of Hebe. Still, her real breakthrough wouldn't come from sword-and-sandal cinema.

The Mud and Porunn's Braids

Her face became familiar to millions of viewers thanks to television. In 2014, she joined the cast of Vikings to play Porunn. The character starts out as a slave and ends up searching for her place as a shieldmaiden in a man's world. The actress had to learn to handle the shield and sword with a naturalness that wouldn't stand out from the rest of the cast.

Her participation in the series ended in 2015.

Many actors get typecast after a project of that magnitude. But Weiss decided to return to Europe to alternate genre productions with more independent cinema. In 2017, she took part in Overdrive, an action movie shot in Marseille alongside Scott Eastwood. And although the plot was simple, the project allowed her to work in a high-budget technical environment in her home country.

Claustrophobia and Survival

In 2020, she took on the challenge of starring in Meander. It's a sci-fi horror film in which her character spends most of the time trapped in narrow tunnels. The actress chose to shoot the risky scenes without stunt doubles to convey a real sense of anguish to the audience. The shoot was a test of endurance that moved her away from the period-drama lady image she had carried since her early days.

And physical effort once again became the key.

In 2022, she led the cast of The Bunker Game. The story takes place in an underground shelter where a group of people gets trapped during a role-playing game. Weiss takes on a much darker, more psychological tone here, as her interest seems to lie in characters pushed to the limits of their abilities.

Guy Ritchie was cast by her in 2024 for the series The Gentlemen. She plays Princess Rosanne in a storyline that mixes British aristocracy with marijuana trafficking. The role calls for a mix of coldness and elegance that Weiss pulls off effortlessly. As a result, her name has been buzzing again in casting offices across London.

For the shoot of A Sacrifice in 2024, she moved to Berlin to work under Jordan Scott. The film explores the world of cults and fanaticism in the German capital. The production team used 35mm cameras to achieve a specific visual texture in the city's night scenes.