Gemma Arterton has admitted that she enjoys playing strong women on screen. The 27-year-old RADA graduate has played Strawberry Fields in Bond movie Quantum Of Solace opposite Daniel Craig, the feisty Princess Tamina in Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time and now stars as bounty hunter Gretel in Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters.

“I had to do lots of training because I’d never done anything like it and I absolutely loved it,” she said.

A self-confessed girly girl, she threw herself into the training for the role, which sees her hoisting some impressive weapons, throwing punches and kicking some serious witch butt.

“It’s one of the reasons I wanted to do the film because I’ve always wanted to punch people!” she continued. “I came in before anybody else and worked with the stunt team in a kind of intensive boot camp. It was great because it really rooted me and made me more present in the action scenes.”

Oscar-nominated Hurt Locker star Jeremy Renner plays her screen brother Hansel in Tommy Wirkola’s movie, which catches up with the sibling duo 15 years on as adults.

“The sibling relationship is such a great one to explore. Hansel and Gretel have this unstoppable bond but they’re also so different from each other,” the actress said.

“She’s the brains of the operation, he’s the brawn. He’s the joker and the show-off. She’s more the watcher, the researcher, the one who tries to really understand witchcraft. They have to each play to their strengths.”

(source)