I’ve updated this site’s sidebar and also Gemma’s filmography with absolutely all her past and upcoming projects, including a brand new page for Wuthering Heights.
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 votehere!
(It’s a quick poll, you can skip categories if you don’t want to vote in them.)
Gemma revealed her demanding role in Tess of the d’Urbervilles ‘unlocked’ her acting passion.
She explained: “I went to drama school for three years and I kind of tried all these different methods and never really felt like I was getting anywhere.
“And then it was actually Tess that unlocked something in me. I became like a crying wreck – I couldn’t stop crying all the time. And then on the next film I did, Prince of Persia (with Jake Gyllenhaal), they kept saying to me, ‘Why are you crying all the time?’ I couldn’t get rid of Tess!”
In the Best Actress category, Gemma Arterton is nonimated for Tess of the D’Urbervilles. She’ll compete with Andrea Riseborough (who is nominated for lead roles in two productions - Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk to Finchley and The Devil’s Whore), Ruth Jones (Gavin & Stacey, Little Dorrit and Tess) and Julie Walters (for Filth: The Mary Whitehouse Story).
The winners will be announced at the BPG Awards lunch at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on Friday March 27, 2009.
Winners will be informed in advance and places at the lunch are by invitation only.
The Broadcasting Press Guild was founded in 1974 and has more than a hundred members - all journalists who specialise in writing and broadcasting about television, radio and the media in general. They include media correspondents, reviewers, previewers and feature writers from national newspapers, broadcasters and leading trade journals and websites. Details of previous BPG Awards winners can be found at http://www.broadcastingpressguild.org/awards.
Don’t you worry if you missed the first half of Tess of the D’Urbervilles, PBS.org is streaming it so you can get up to speed before Sunday, Jan. 11 at 9pm. You can also select your favorite chapters instead of watching the full episode.
Episode One is available for online viewing from January 5 to January 19, 2009.
Episode Two (which means the third and fourth episodes that aired in the UK combined) airs next Sunday.
PBS.org now has a website of sorts up for Tess as well.
While you’re at it, why not take the time to visit Hans Matheson Online (Alec D’Urberville) and Eddie Redmayne Online (Angel Clare), two wonderful fansites dedicated to Gemma’s co-stars in the series?
Last but not least, attention UK visitors: St Trinian’s will be showing on Sky Movies Premiere on Satuday, Jan. 10 at 8pm.
Hardy heroine faces injustice with head high in ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’
TESS OF THE D’URBERVILLES. Sunday night at 9, WNET/Ch.13
PBS’ “Masterpiece Theater” kicked off 2008 with a Jane Austen festival.
It kicks off 2009 with a new two-night, four-hour miniseries of Thomas Hardy’s “Tess of the d’Urbervilles,” which visually seems eerily similar to Austen. Yet it pokes into a far darker, more debilitating side of life for even the most buoyant and resilient of women in the 19th century.
What makes Tess Durbeyfield’s life difficult, happily, makes the drama rich for “Masterpiece” fans. The fact many will be familiar with the story makes this latest interpretation no less engrossing.
Gemma Arterton, most recently seen with a far different attitude as the latest Bond Girl, plays Tess traditionally and well.
I’ve started adding DVD caps from the making of Tess to our gallery today. I’m not even close to be finished, so please be patient!
I’ve got great news to our American visitors! Tess Of The D’Urbervilles will come to US audiencess on PBS Masterpiece Theatre on Sunday January 4th and 10th, 2009.
In the meantime please visit Hans Matheson Online, a fabulous fansite dedicated to Gemma’s co-star in Tess.
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.”
Tess ended a couple of weeks ago, but I’ve added 8 new stills from it as well as a photo from the set to our gallery. We now have incredible 60 stills from the TV Series!
The Sun recently posted a video preview from the next installment of Tess of the D’Urbervilles where Angel confesses a secret to Tess. The video contains spoilers for the next episode. You can catch Tess on Sunday at 9pm on BBC1.
So, what did you think of last night’s episode of Tess?
BBC1’s adaptation of Tess of the D’Urbervilles lost 600,000 viewers for its second episode last night, but still managed to top ITV1 drama Agatha Christie’s Poirot, and movie productions The Notebook and Black Hawk Down in the 9pm hour. Not bad at all!
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.
They didn’t have to ask Eddie Redmayne twice to be in BBC1’s Tess Of The D’Urbervilles.
Eddie plays Tess’s love interest Angel Clare and he jumped at the chance to get up close and personal with Gemma Arterton.
“I had a stronger emotional attachment to this script than anything else I’ve ever read,” says Eddie.
“The character of Angel is liberal, a little bit out there for his time.” This Sunday, Angel falls for Tess and they enjoy a summer of love. Then things go horribly wrong. Eddie adds: “The day-in dayout toil with no respite gives a real insight into those times.”
