Gemma Arterton's Biography
Gemma Arterton played the role of Bond girl, MI6 Agent Strawberry Fields in Quantum Of Solace.
Arterton's BASSC Certificate in Stage Combat with Distinction may have helped prepare her for the James Bond film.
Born in Kent, Gemma Arterton played head girl Kelly in the 2007 film St Trinian's.
Her mother was a cleaner in Gravesend, who raised her by herself.
In 2004, Gemma received the Best Supporting Actress for Kent Award.
Gemma Arterton studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada).
Gemma Arterton told The Guardian about her experience at RADA:
"When I got to drama school there were all these people going 'Oh, my Dad used to watch Ken Loach films' and I would be thinking, who is Ken Loach?"
Before her breakthrough with her major parts in St Trinian's and Quantum Of Solace, Gemma Arterton supported herself working in a beauty shop in Covent Garden.
In 2007, whilst still at drama college, Gemma Arterton played Liza in Capturing Mary, Stephen Poliakoff's tale of lost youth on BBC2.
In 2011, Poliakoff also gave Gemma's sister Hannah a big break when he cast her in My City.
Gemma Arterton was also cast as Elizabeth Bennet in ITV's Lost in Austen in 2008, as well as in the Brit flick Three and Out, and Guy Ritchie's RocknRolla.
In March 2008, the BBC reported that Gemma Arterton would play the lead role in a four-hour adaptation of Tess Of The D'Urbervilles to be broadcast in the autumn on BBC One.
In 2009, Gemma Arterton continued to be cast in prominent roles including playing demi-goddess Io in Clash of the Titans and Desiree in The Boat That Rocked.
In May 2009, it was announced that Gemma Arterton is to star as Cathy in a remake of Wuthering Heights directed by Peter Webber.
In July 2009, The Mail reported that Gemma Arterton had got engaged to Stefano, who had been Daniel Craig's body double in Quantum of Solace.
In 2009 Gemma Arterton was cast opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.
Also in 2009, filming began on Stephen Frears' version of comic strip and graphic novel Tamara Drewe, starring Gemma Arterton as Tamara.
April 2010 saw the release of The Disappearance of Alice Creed, in which she played a millionaire's daughter who is kidnapped.
In January 2011, Gemma Arterton was nominated for a Bafta Rising Star award.
In 2014, Gemma Arterton was cast in the stage performance of Made in Dagenham.
In 2015, Gemma and Stefano Catelli got divorced.
In 2016, she received critical praise for her acting in the title role of Nell Gwynn at the Apollo Theatre in London.
Soon after, she was cast as Joan of Arc in a London production of George Bernard Shaw's St Joan.
2016 was a busy year for Gemma Arterton, who was also cast as Emily in 100 Streets and as Catrin Cole in the film Their Finest.
In 2019, Gemma Arterton was cast in the role of Sister Clodagh in a new BBC three-part adaptation of the 1939 novel Black Narcissus.
Video of Gemma Arterton on Lorraine
Trivia
In 2008 in an interview with Esquire magazine Gemma Arterton revealed that she was born with six fingers on each hand, a condition known as polydactyly, which affects one child in a thousand. According to the Daily Mail, "the doctor who delivered her tied off the extra fingers with sutures and they fell off, leaving just small scars."
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