By Michael Gingold

British actress Gemma Arterton’s career has seen her literally running the gamut, from big-ticket actioners like the 007 film QUANTUM OF SOLACE, CLASH OF THE TITANS and PRINCE OF PERSIA to the intense, confined thrills of THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED. Now she’s kicking butt again as one-half of the heavily armed sibling team in HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS (opening Friday from Paramount). Arterton spoke to Fango about her most adventurous role yet, as well as her upcoming vampire drama BYZANTIUM and a reunion with her DISAPPEARANCE director.

In HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS, directed and co-written by Tommy Wirkola (who broke out with the Nazi-zombie film DEAD SNOW), Arterton and THE AVENGERS’ Jeremy Renner play the sister and brother who defeated a predatory sorceress in childhood, and have since devoted their lives to exterminating her kind. Their chief nemesis is evil witch Muriel (Famke Janssen), who has been stealing the children of a small village in preparation for a sacrifical rite during the impending Blood Moon. Mixing period and fairy-tale tropes with updated weaponry, HANSEL & GRETEL is a true genre-blender, as Arterton explains…

FANGORIA: Were you familiar with DEAD SNOW before you did HANSEL & GRETEL?

GEMMA ARTERTON: Yeah! When I heard about the project, I did watch it. I’m not usually one for gore [laughs], so I watched it with hands over my eyes, but it was a really clever film, tonally. Tommy has a great sense of humor and knowledge of film, so I was excited to work with him. Read More