GALLERY LINK:
– Song for Marion (2012) > Blu-ray Captures, thanks to my dear friend Stef

The very pale, very interesting Gemma Arterton, leading lady in two of this year’s blockbusters, gives a master class in how to wear diamonds—mostly white, with a hint of yellow, a blush of pink.

By Steve King

Contrasts? Gemma Arterton can tell you a thing or two about contrasts. The girl from Gravesend graduated from R.A.D.A., the most prestigious classical drama academy in the land, only to go straight back to school in St. Trinian’s. She wowed critics in Ibsen’s The Master Builder at the Almeida, then squeezed into a pair of microscopic denim hot pants for Tamara Drewe. Just a couple of weeks before she achieved global exposure—literally and figuratively—as Strawberry Fields in Quantum of Solace, she had also appeared in the lead role in the BBC’s somber-toned adaptation of Tess of the D’Urbervilles.

Of her experience as a Bond girl, incidentally, she has nothing but good things to say—not least that it enabled her to buy five Colombian emeralds while she was on location in South America. She still likes to buy a piece of jewelry whenever she makes a film abroad. “Jewelry is like treasure,” she says. “Much more fun than houses or furniture.”

The contrasts keep coming. Lately there’s been Unfinished Song, a bittersweet ensemble piece in which she stars alongside Terence Stamp and Vanessa Redgrave, and Byzantium, a lush, louche vampire yarn directed by Neil Jordan; next up is Runner, Runner, a pacey thriller with Ben Affleck. At the mere mention of Terence Stamp’s name, she rocks back and shakes her hair loose and beams like a gospel singer mid-hallelujah. I ask whether he is as charismatic off the screen as he is on it, but she has answered the question before the words are out of my mouth. “Terence! Yes! Terence! Well, at first I wasn’t sure how things would go. I thought it could be hard. Because he has a reputation for being very . . . particular. But in fact it was like the relationship of our characters in the film—it softened, we developed a rapport, we became friends. We got along brilliantly. We lived opposite each other while we were filming and we’d share organic food. ‘Here, have some of my delicious spelt! Here, have some of my lovely goat’s cheese!’” But apparently she drew the line at: “Here, have some of my yummy Colombian emeralds!”

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Bond girl and sexy star, Gemma Arterton changes her style to act opposite Terence Stamp in Song for Marion.

GALLERY LINK:
– Scans from 2013: D – Donna di Repubblica (Italy) – August 10, 2013

If reposting our scans, please don’t remove our tag, give some us credit and a link back. We spend a lot of money from our own pockect to always bring you exclusive Gemma scans whenever we can. Vanity Fair Jewellery Supplement is a Gemma-Arterton.net exclusive goodie.

GALLERY LINK:
– Scans from 2013 > Vanity Fair Jewellery Supplement – August 2013, thanks to Chuckie

Written by Nancy Mills

What can an ex-Bond girl learn from playing a choir director who teaches oldsters to sing? “I had to learn how to play the piano and conduct,” says Gemma Arterton, who played Strawberry Fields in Quantum of Solace and stars with Vanessa Redgrave and Terrence Stamp in Unfinished Song, now in theaters.

“I’m always thinking about learning new things. It’s inevitable that everyone gets old, but there’s no reason not to find joy later on in life. Music is very cathartic, and it brings people together. It has this inescapable emotional effect. When you hear a piece of music, or especially if you sing it, it can be quite a release.”

Arterton, 27, who sang with several bands before becoming successful as an actress, hasn’t given up her own musical ambitions. “Next year I might be singing for a living,” she says. “I’m hoping to do a musical adaptation of Made in Dagenham (a film about women striking for equal pay at a Ford car plant in England) in London’s West End.”

Her challenge now is learning to speak French to play the title role in the film Gemma Bovery, based on Posy Simmonds’ graphic-novel homage to Madame Bovary.

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By Bob Strauss

We knew Gemma Arterton was no angel.

Well, maybe she is. She sounds nice enough on the phone.

But yeah, the English actress doesn’t shy away from messy movie roles. She met a bad Bond Girl end in “Quantum of Solace,” was kidnapped and abused throughout “The Disappearance of Alice Creed” and wrestled with all kinds of bloody demons in “Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters” earlier this year.

Still, playing a vampire hooker in the new film “Byzantium” seems extreme, even for her. She loved every minute of it, though.

“There were all these facets to the character that I wanted to convey,” Arterton says. “Her resilience and love and protectiveness, but at the same time her controlling nature with the daughter. The sexuality of the character, the ruthlessness, the intelligence that she hides with her sexuality: When you come across characters like that, they’re so much fun to play.”

“Byzantium” is directed by the eclectic Irishman Neil Jordan (“Interview with the Vampire,” “Mona Lisa,” “The Crying Game“) from an original script by playwright Moira Buffini, who also wrote the screenplay for the Arterton-starring “Tamara Drewe” and the most recent screen adaptation of “Jane Eyre.” Arterton stars as Clara, a 200-plus-year-old vampire who doesn’t look mature enough to have a teenage daughter but does. That’s Eleanor, played by Saoirse Ronan; she doesn’t approve of her mom’s chosen profession, but shares her need to feed, since Clara also turned her way back in the 18th century day. Read More

British actress Gemma Arterton does not need to worry about typecasting with roles ranging from a fairy tale character and literary heroines to MI6 agent Strawberry Fields in the 2008 James Bond film “Quantum of Solace.”

In “Unfinished Song,” a comedy-drama that opens in U.S. theaters on Friday, Arterton, 27, stars as Elizabeth, a music teacher in a boys’ school.

She also directs a choir for seniors, which includes Marion, played by Vanessa Redgrave, and forges a special friendship with her cantankerous retired husband, played by Terence Stamp.

The following week Arterton will be seen in U.S. theaters as a sexy vampire in Neil Jordan’s film “Byzantium.” Arterton spoke to Reuters about her choice of characters, sharing the big screen with Redgrave and Stamp, and her first French-speaking role in the upcoming film “Gemma Bovery.”

Q: You have some interesting films coming out. Two are opening in the space of a week. How did you manage that?
A: It’s weird that it happened that way. I made them about three months apart. It’s nice. I remember when the Bond film came out in the UK I also made the TV show called “Tess of the D’Urbervilles” and they were so different and it was really good that it happened. It’s nice when people can see the range.

Q: “Unfinished Song” is a small British film that is about as far away as you can get from a Bond film. What attracted you to the role?
A: The script. I was making an action-comedy at the time and it was a long shoot, a four- or five-month shoot, and I thought I just want to do something real, something close to home. My agent sent me the script and I read it and I was crying.

Q: In the film you develop a special relationship with Terence Stamp. What was that like?
A: Everyone thinks that Terence Stamp is a very serious, stern Englishman. I was thinking he was going to be a very grumpy guy but for some reason we just got on really well and we brought out the best in each other and we’re friends now …
In the film we warmed to each other and ended up helping each other in certain ways. He is such a lovely guy. It was so lovely to see him play that kind of role. Usually he plays these gangsters or villains and for him to take on that role was a real decision because he is playing an old man. He was nervous about it but it was beautiful and he did such a good job.

Q: How intimidating was it working with Vanessa Redgrave and Terence Stamp, both highly acclaimed British actors?
A: It was incredible. Vanessa is one of my all-time theater idols. For me she just represents the ultimate in strength and dignity. She can do anything. Working with her made me quite nervous and I was fascinated by the way she was working. This film was really, really important to do. It was a love letter to her sister (Lynn Redgrave), who died of cancer. You could feel it was a special thing for her.

Q: How do you choose your roles?
A: At first I was quite mindless. I didn’t really think about it. I was pleased I was being offered stuff … And then I realized I’m not happy with what is going on and had to be a bit more thoughtful. Now I think about what I want to do in relation to what I have just done.

Q: What projects do you have coming up?
A: I am just preparing now for my next film, which is my first French film. It is called “Gemma Bovery” and Anne Fontaine is directing it. She directed “Coco Before Chanel.” It is my first French-speaking movie so I am a bit nervous about it.

Q: Are you fluent in French?
A: I started learning French in January and then in February this script came through called “Gemma Bovery,” based on “Madame Bovary” … For me it’s a really big challenge but I feel if I can do it then I have opened another door. I love French cinema and some of my favorite actors are French. It would be something I would really be proud of doing. I start filming that in August.

(source)