Diana Rigg, the three roles that make her a legend

Diana Rigg played Lady Olenna Tyrell in the cult series “Game of Thrones”.

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• British actress Diana Rigg has died at the age of 82. 

• The actress has marked the history of television and cinema and participated in the evolution of the representation of women on the screen. 

• Back on his three mythical roles. 

An icon.

British actress Diana Rigg has died at the age of 82, her BBC agent announced on Thursday.

We take a look back at the three roles that make Dame Diana Rigg a legend.

Emma Peel sex symbol

She only appeared in two seasons, in 1965-1966, of the cult series

, but made a lasting impression in the role of Emma Peel.

The nonchalant spy is the fifth partner and the third woman to support Agent John Steed (Patrick Macnee).

The character's name comes from a play on words with "Man Appeal" (literally "which attracts the man").

Her bodycon jumpsuits in black and white in season 4 and in color in season 5, nicknamed

, and her miniskirts exert a big influence on the fashion of the 60's, and make Diana Rigg a sex symbol.

A status that the actress has difficulty living.

“I felt belittled, because I was so much more than that simple image of a sexy woman.

Moreover, the leather suit that I wore was very uncomfortable, and made me sweat a lot, it was really not sexy, in real life, ”she confided to the

in 2019 while she was honored for the whole of his career at Canneseries.

“The role of Emma Peel has marked her all her life.

So much so that she seems tormented when it is mentioned in an interview, reluctant, even refusing to talk about it, ”told

in 2015 Aurélie Blot, doctor in English and audiovisual studies and series specialist.

"When I started my career, the roles of women on television were a little pale housewives," she still remembered in the columns of Le

.

And Emma Peel has helped shift the portrayal of women in the series.

The spy, a martial artist, was rarely beaten and saved her male partner as often as he did.

Emma Peel also shone with an extraordinary intelligence, allowing her to thwart the evil plans of the craziest scientists and to share complicit (and often two-way) dialogues with her partner.

The only wife of James Bond

To this day, Diana Rigg has played the first and only wife of famous spy 007, Tracy, alongside the short-lived George Lazenby in

 The actress had been chosen by the producers to compensate for the lack of notoriety of George Lazenby.

“It was a very beautiful role, with nice costumes.

I was not really a fan of the James Bond in question which had a very difficult character, but it remains a very good experience.

Besides, it's time for James Bond to get married again, right?

», She quipped at Canneseries.

Machiavellian Olenna Tyrell

Diana Rigg will remain in the minds of the younger generation thanks to her role as matriarch of House Tyrell, Lady Olenna, nicknamed the "Queen of Thorns".

A recurring character from the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh seasons of the global phenomenon

A role with Shakespearean accents which fits like a glove to Diana Rigg, known above all across the Channel as an actress of the Royal Shakespeare Compagny before being a film or television actress.

“In the role of Olenna Tyrell, a manipulative character who is not afraid to confront, in words as in intrigue, the most powerful men of Westeros, Diana Rigg is perfect.

It's a very good choice ”, commented in 2015 for

Anne Besson, lecturer in literature at the University of Artois, specialist in romantic sets.

“I like to play bad guys.

They are so much more interesting than the good guys.

There are actors who don't like to play bad guys, they like to be loved.

I like not to be loved.

Olenna had the best lines, ”she said of the Machiavellian Lady Olenna to the BBC.

His character will go down in the annals for having ordered the assassination of the most hated serial character in the history of the series, Joffrey Baratheon and for his murderous reply to the address of the mother of the deceased: "Tell Cersei."

I want her to know it was me ”(“ Tell Cersei. I want her to know that it was me ”), become one even on social networks.

Series

Diana Rigg, Madame "bowler hat and leather boots", died at 82

Television

Diana Rigg, from "Game of thrones", in the spotlight at the CanneSeries festival, Monsieur Poulpe as master of ceremonies

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