And another interview. It’s actually not that different from the Comingsoon.net one. ;)

Prince of Persia star Gemma Arterton discusses playing Princess Tamina in the videogame adaptation, working opposite Daniel Craig and Sir Ben Kingsley, and her ambitions to be a stuntwoman.

Q: So how does it feeling going from Bond to this?

Gemma Arterton: I did the The Boat that Rocked in between which was completely detached from anything kind of action or fairytaley, which was nice, and then I went back into it. But in Bond my part’s not really… it doesn’t really have any action, whereas in this I have a lot. It’s a real full-on action role, although she’s a high priestess so she’s not your typical kind of gun-wielding [heroine]. She’s very spiritual, so it’s an interesting take to have someone that’s action-driven but that has got religious beliefs. It’s an interesting character.

Q: Is it inspiring or intimidating to work with experienced actors like Daniel Craig and now Sir Ben Kingsley?

Arterton: Absolutely inspiring. I think I tend to go into things head-first and not really think about what I’m doing, which is sometimes better than going “oh my god I’m just about to act with Sir Ben Kingsley.” Then you are yourself and that’s what they want ultimately – you’re just another actor working with them. So it’s brilliant but I don’t really get too worried about it [laughs] I probably should when I’m being all cheeky and scampy with Sir Ben Kingsley, but no, it’s brilliant and a honour.

Q: So how hot was the Morocco shoot?

Arterton: It got progressively hotter as the shoot went on and as we got further into the desert. At one point it was 58 degrees, which is something like 130-odd, but I was alright because I’m wearing clothes that are sort of suitable, but the boys were all wearing… I mean you’ve seen some of the costumes – leather and loads of black, and it was unbelievably hot. I quite like the heat so I was OK, but we were really grateful to come home and be in a kind of controlled environment again.

Q: What have you most enjoyed about the film thus far?

Arterton: I love all the action stuff. I should have really been a stunt woman. I’ve really enjoy it, even though there are people that are trained to do this and they’re trained to get battered and bruised, but I’ve loved doing all of that and the fighting.

It’s gobsmacking – the sets and the costumes and the sheer scale of this film – and then you’re kind of put into it, into this completely different world. That’s what’s fantastic because you don’t have to really imagine much because it’s there designed right in front of you, and so that’s been brilliant as well.

Q: Were there any particular kind of skills you had to learn for this film?

Arterton: I had to learn how to horse ride, which I have never done before in my life, and it’s become a real new passion for me. Pretty much the whole cast went to Spain and learnt to horse ride for two weeks, which was incredible – to have that opportunity – and then we all kind of continued it. I have to do loads of fighting but the style – there isn’t a particular style to my fighting because it’s quite wild – she’s never really been trained. But where I went to drama school I trained in stage combat quite heavily so I had quite a bit of experience.

Q: What other preparation did you do for the role?

Arterton: I didn’t play the computer game. I did sort of research in terms where it came from but the story is quite different to the computer game. I read up on Persia and the history, although this film is complete fantasy – you can’t really place it or compare it to anything else, so I thought the best thing to do was just to approach it with a fresh mind and your own intuition, so that’s what I did.

Q: Can you talk about the relationship between your character and Jake’s?

Arterton: I play Tamina, who’s the princess of Alamut, which is a city that the Persians invade, and I’m kind of kidnapped, so I hate the Persians. Although my character doesn’t really feel hate – she’s very spiritual so she just dislikes them. They have this real kind of love-hate relationship, it’s very full of banter, and I like to compare it to Beatrice and Benedict in Much Ado About Nothing. Obviously they fancy each other but they don’t show it. They kind of have to join forces when they find out all the bad things that are happening in Persia, and they learn from each other.

There’s a lot of wit and banter, there’s also romance there, there’s a lot of comedy, but also a real seriousness, which is a really great thing about this film. It’s not just an action-adventure, it’s not just a romance, it’s not just this or that. There’s loads of drama and it takes you in loads of different directions all the time – you think it’s going to be like this and then it completely changes and becomes really dark or really light. And the relationship between Dastan and Tamina has got all of that.

Q: So do you have any magical powers, or is it all practical fighting?

Arterton: The main source of power is the dagger of time, which is what we’re all fighting over in this film as it has the ability to turn back time. Nobody, apart from Dastan, really has this kind of aura of magic about them. Nobody really has magical powers. You’ll see when the film comes out that all of the magic comes from the dagger of time.

Q: Were you conscious of the stigma that’s attached movie adaptations of videogames? Do you think this is going to be the one that finally breaks that cycle?

Arterton: I don’t know. They have got huge stigma attached to them, haven’t they? Who knows? I don’t think so. It’s loosely based – the kind of characters and the ideas are from the computer game but it’s got such brilliant actors in it and it’s brilliantly directed and it’s got a brilliant team behind it. I think we can make it into something really brilliant, but it’s one of those things – you have to wait to and see.

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