Gwendoline Christie's body 'shut down' filming in extreme heat

Elisabeth Moss feared her new Top Of The Lake co-star Gwendoline Christie was having a stroke as the British actress' body "shut down" while filming in the scorching Australian heat.

The towering Game of Thrones star joins Elisabeth for the crime drama's second season, titled Top of the Lake: China Girl, and part of the show was shot on the picturesque Bondi Beach in Sydney.

Gushing about the beauty of the location, she told morning show Live with Kelly and Ryan, "It's an extraordinary place, nothing prepares you... It's just spectacular, that gleaming white sand. But of course, I've incredibly fair skin, I'm not someone who can go outside easily...!"

Temperatures soared during filming, and Gwendoline, who portrays policewoman Miranda Hilmarson, struggled to deal with the extreme heat - and nearly passed out.

"We were filming on the beach, and we were filming for two days solidly," she explained. "I think it was 91 degrees (Fahrenheit), and it was such intense heat, there were hundreds of extras... a huge amount of people on the beach, and you're really in amongst it.

"There was a lot happening, and my body just started to sort of shut down," she recalled. "My eyes started streaming (with tears)!"

Gwendoline ignored the obvious signs of ill health and forced herself to push through, despite Elisabeth's concerns.

"It was our first day working together, and... this is Elisabeth Moss, she's a brilliant actress, I didn't want her to think I was any kind of slouch," Christie continued. "She turned to me and said, 'Are you OK? Are you having a stroke?' and I said, 'I don't know, I think my body's shutting down, but let's really go with it..., let's just use it (for the shoot)!' So when you see (the scenes on Bondi Beach), that's just me, just blindly shuffling around...!"

Gwendoline isn't the only newcomer to Top of the Lake - Nicole Kidman also features in the new season two.