She’s slender, attractive and lives a glamorous lifestyle but James Bond girl Gemma Arterton has told Australian women to not imitate her or her Hollywood mates and instead create their own identity.

Arterton has emerged as the new darling of British cinema with a string of roles in blockbusters including Quantum Of Solace and most recently in The Boat That Rocked opposite Philip Seymour Hoffman.

But in a refreshing appraisal of celebrity culture, the model-cum-actress said she was surprised that on the other side of the world young women were trying to copy their idols at the expense of their own identity.

“It’s about working hard and being as competent as you can in your own world,” she said during a break from her latest film, the remake of Clash Of The Titans to be released in Australia in 2010.

“There is no one else that can give you that. So whatever anyone says about this size, this look, whatever, I think it takes real balls to stand up and say, ‘Well, this is who I am and this is what I am doing’ and I am really trying to set that example.”

Arterton said the sudden interest from Hollywood directors and the celebrity magazines had startled her.

It peaked with Bond, after she was selected for the role from 1500 other hopefuls, but began after she starred in high school romp St Trinian’s, then a role in Guy Ritchie’s gangster film RocknRolla, followed by the video game-based movie Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time.

“I really don’t know what is going to happen. The only thing I can do is be prepared and the best way I’m preparing is to make sure everyone around me is really, really grounded. They are my real friends and family and we kind of deal with it.”

Source