Though Hollywood is not in danger of losing its love for period dramas any time soon, there’s often a push these days to give it a bit of a twist. Thank heavens, then, that Nora Ephron and Sony have, of all places, ITV to turn to for a new project. Because the writer/director is now busy adapting 2008 miniseries Lost in Austen for the big screen.

The series – written by Guy Andrews – followed Amanda Price (Jemima Rooper), a lifelong Jane Austen fan who finds her mundane London reality suddenly swapping places with her favourite author’s storyline from Pride and Prejudice. After discovering that a small door in her flat leads to Elizabeth Bennet (Gemma Arterton)’s world, the two women trade places, only to find that the switch makes things more complicated for both of them.

Naturally, Ephron plans to switch the setting to New York, but with Sam Mendes on board as a producer, we’ll be hoping it maintains the requisite decorum. There’s no word on when it’ll get started, but Ephron will be behind the camera as usual. The film may find itself overlapping a bit with the similarly themed Austenland, wherein Keri Russell plays a modern girl given tickets to an Austen-style immersive holiday, complete with Mr Darcy type (JJ Feild). That’s directed by Jerusha Hess, and based on Shannon Hale’s novel.
James White

Source

Lost in Austen and Tess of the D’Urbervilles are up for Best Drama and Gemma for Best Actress at the TV Choice and TV Quick Awards 2009 – go vote here!
(It’s a quick poll, you can skip categories if you don’t want to vote in them.)

A scan from FHM’s Sexiest List – unfortunately not a new pic, but better than nothing. And 11 gorgeous new Production Stills from Lost in Austen!

GALLERY LINKS:
- Scans: Clippings From 2009
- Lost in Austen: Production Stills

We thank Cath for letting us know about these fabulous new photos from Gemma’s 2008 Daily Mail photoshoot. What we didn’t know before is that apparently it was a shoot taken to promote Lost in Austen because it also features actress Jemima Rooper. Enjoy!

GALLERY LINKS:
- Photoshoots: Daily Mail (2008)

Captures from the final Lost in Austen episode have been added to the gallery. This one aired on September 24th and featured quite a bit of adorable Gemma!

GALLERY LINKS:
- Lost in Austen (2008) : Episode 4 (September 25, 2008)

Gemma Arterton graduated from St Trinian’s to star as Tess of the d’Urbervilles. Now she’s playing opposite Daniel Craig in the new Bond film. Is this the start of global domination for the girl from Gravesend?

The moment Gemma Arterton heard she’d be the new Bond girl is ingrained on her mind for ever. She was on a boat, just off the coast of Gibraltar, filming the comedy Three and Out with Mackenzie Crook. Dressed in full scuba-diving gear – what else would a prospective Bond girl be wearing? – Arterton answered her mobile phone to her agent, who immediately began humming the James Bond theme down the line; the role of Agent Fields in the 22nd 007 film, Quantum of Solace, was hers. So moved was Crook, he shed a tear for his co-star and uttered, “This is such a big moment in your life.” Read the rest of this entry »

Gemma was nowhere to be seen in last night’s episode of Lost in Austen. I guess we’ll only get to see Elizabeth again in next week’s final episode.

Guy Ritchie’s latest action flick RocknRolla won’t hit theaters here in the U.S. until Oct. 31, but in case you can’t take the wait, here are six clips to give you a sneak peek. In the film, London’s toughest criminals go head to head in the race for a bunch of money. Gemma appears briefly in the fifth clip.

In the meantime, I’ve kept myself busy capping the first episode of Tess.

GALLERY LINKS:
- Tess of the D’Urbervilles: Episode 1 (September 14, 2008)

GALLERY LINKS:
- Lost in Austen: Production Stills
- Tess of the D’Urbervilles: Production Stills

If you thought that there wasn’t enough Gemma in last week’s episode of Lost in Austen… Well, think again! There was even less in this week’s episode! She only appeared in the “previously” and “opening credits” bits.

Fortunately, we’ll be able to rejoice (okay, maybe that’s not the most appropriate word for a tragic story, but you get the point) with Tess of the D’Urbervilles this Sunday (at 9pm on BBC1).

GALLERY LINKS:
- Lost in Austen (2008) : Episode 2 (September 10, 2008)

Gemma Arterton romps with 007 in the new James Bond but now she’s gearing up for the ultimate Tess.

She told TV Land that playing the lead in Tess of the D’Urbervilles is “the highlight of my career so far”. And having seen the first episode, starting Sunday night on BBC1, I have to agree.

“When I found out I’d got the part, I was ecstatic,” she says. “I never thought I’d get to play a leading role in a period drama at the BBC.”

And to make matters even more magical, she got to film at Stonehenge.

Gemma recalls: “We were overcome just thinking, ‘Wow this is where Thomas Hardy imagined the scene to take place.’ When you walk in, there’s something spooky about it.”

Less magical was filming a rape scene.

But Gemma says: “I’m not the sort who takes it with them. I’d be in a bleak scene all day and come out talking about shoes!”

Well Gemma, that’s certainly no mean feat.

Source: Mirror.co.uk

GALLERY LINKS:
- Quantum of Solace (2008) : Production Stills
- Lost in Austen (2008) : DVD
- Tess of the D’Urbervilles (2008) : DVD
- Magazine Scans: TV Choice (UK) – September 13-19, 2008, thanks to Lorna
- Magazine Scans: TV Times (UK) – September 13-19, 2008, thanks to Lorna

I took screencaps from the 1st episode (out of 4) of Lost in Austen that aired last Wednesday on ITV1. Gemma was absolutely lovely as Elizabeth Bennet. Too bad she didn’t have that much screen time, especially if we compare it with Jemima Rooper’s. I hope we’ll get too see more of Miss Arterton this week!

GALLERY LINKS:
- Lost in Austen (2008) : Episode 1 (September 3, 2008)

It was Bond girl Gemma Arterton who was both shaken and stirred when the wind got up as she was filming a crucial scene in Panama for the new 007 film Quantum Of Solace.

For Gemma, who plays alluring undercover operative Agent Fields, revealed rather more than she bargained for as she and 007 left a hotel in a hurry on the trail of a man Bond is chasing.

‘I had to wear a mac and boots with nothing underneath,’ she said, ‘and I had to be really careful because the mac kept blowing open.’ Read the rest of this entry »

A year ago she was fresh out of college and up to her ears in debt.

Today Gemma Arterton is a rising star of everything from Bond films to bodice-rippers.

But lean times are not hard to forget and Gemma, whose mum brought her up alone while working as a cleaner, has an eye for a bargain at Primark.

Last night four million viewers watched Gemma, 22, playing Lizzie Bennet in ITV’s comedy period piece Lost in Austen. And she will soon take the starring role in Tess Of The D’Urbervilles, the BBC’s new costume drama.

But it’s not just prime-time TV that Gemma is fast conquering. Read the rest of this entry »

Today I’ve added 6 new Tess stills to the gallery, as well as a scan from the Sun featuring an iconic image from the book/movie: Tess tasting strawberries. Be sure to check out the Magazine Scans category for more Tess (and Lost in Austen) related material. There are plenty of good articles and pretty photos that aren’t in the Tess of the D’Urbervilles category itself.

GALLERY LINKS:
- Tess of the D’Urbervilles (2008) : Production Stills
- Magazine Scans: The Sun (UK) – September 5, 2008, thanks to Lorna

This is not a sentence that you often hear – but it’s been a good week for drama on ITV1. After The Children’s highly promising start on Monday, last night brought us the first episode of Lost in Austen. Of course, as many people have already spotted from its shameless blending of Pride and Prejudice with Life on Mars, the series does come with a distinct whiff of commercial calculation. Yet, so far at least, this only goes to show that commercial calculation can sometimes work rather well. The result can’t be called profound. Nonetheless, it does triumphantly achieve its main aim of being enormously good-natured fun.

Jemima Rooper plays Amanda Price, a Jane Austen addict, who began last night living a typical (harsher critics might say stereotypical) twentysomething life in Hammersmith, complete with rubbish boyfriend burping away on the sofa. But then her literary heroine, Elizabeth Bennet (Gemma Arterton) suddenly stumbled through a door in the space-time-fiction continuum to pitch up in the bathroom. When Amanda went through the other way, without Lizzie, the door inevitably locked behind her, leaving her stranded in the Bennet family home.

Admittedly, some viewers may have felt this was a bit implausible. There is, however, one obvious counter-argument: who cares? Read the rest of this entry »