Gemma Arterton (Three And Out) Interview
Gemma Arterton may have been acting for less than a year – but that’s been more than enough time for her to take the movie world by storm.
The 22 year-old, from Gravesend in Kent, left RADA in 2007 – although she had already appeared in Stephen Poliakoff’s Capturing Mary while still engaged in her studies - and since then has been busy notching up plum roles on stage and screen. She started off with the memorable role of Kelly, the Head Girl, in the remake of St. Trinian’s, before notching up both a small role in Guy Ritchie’s Rocknrolla, and the pivotal part of Frankie in Three And Out.
And the rollercoaster ride hasn’t ended there. It was recently confirmed that Arterton has been cast as Agent Fields in Quantum Of Solace, the next James Bond movie, while she will next be seen on the small screen in two high-profile projects, Lost In Austen (where she will play Elizabeth Bennet) and a new BBC production of Tess Of The D’Urbervilles, in which she will assay the title role.
In Three And Out, she plays Frankie Cassidy, the daughter of Tommy Cassidy (Colm Meaney), who walked out on her and her mother eight years prior, leaving them to start a new life in the Lake District. In fact, until Tommy turns up at their Cumbria home, Frankie – something of a rebel and a punkette - believed her father was dead. But feelings of anger and betrayal soon subside, especially when she develops feelings for Tommy’s reluctant friend, Paul Callow (Mackenzie Crook)…
Tell us what you’re shooting today...
It’s my last day of dialogue. Today is about when my character, Frankie, sees Mackenzie’s character, Paul, in the pub and she tries to pull him basically. She’s angry with him at first because he brought her dad back to her home and she hates her dad and as they get more and more drunk she seduces him a little bit. That’s the scene.
Frankie seems very confident, then...
She’s very, very confident. Quite feisty. She doesn’t care how she comes across to people but she’s sensitive, really. Not damaged, but upset about her dad and she’s a really sensitive person. It’s a really nice character. There’s the two extremes that makes it a really rich character.
Three And Out is a comedy – was that appealing to you?
Actually, most of my stuff is very emotional or emotionally-driven. There are comedic moments in it. She’s got a sense of humour, but when I met the director for the part, he said she’s got the soul and the heart of the movie. I remember him also saying that it’s the same feel as Little Miss Sunshine, in that it’s really funny but also some of the things in it are really dark. I can relate to it – everyone can relate to family problems. It’s really important that we make light out of it in the film but it gives it real heart and depth and makes it a lot more unique than just an outright slapstick comedy.
How did you get the part?
I auditioned for it and the designer, Amanda McArthur designed a film I did called St. Trinian’s and she recommended me to the director, which was really cool. I met him for him and got the part.
Were you intimidated by the Liverpudlian accent?
It’s one of the accents that I’ve always sort of been able to do anyway. There are ones you can and can’t do, I don’t know what it is. I’ve never known anyone Liverpudlian but it’s just something I can do. I did a play when I was doing amateur dramatics, and I played a Liverpudlian and really went for it. So I had it in my head. But having to do this is quite scary because what if it’s not bang on? You sound a bit crap. But it’s good doing accents, I really enjoy doing accents.
So you nailed it in the audition, then?
I did it in the audition just like a rough version. It’s nice for them to hear that you can sort of do it, and I like to give it a go. And Jonathan said to me ‘it’s nice how you’ve merged the Liverpudlian with the Cumbrian’ because she lives in Cumbria now and I said ‘I think you’ll find that it’s just crap Liverpudlian! But if it works for you, then great!’
How have you researched your accent?
I have the brilliance of YouTube. I’ve been watching loads of different films like Educating Rita and listening to interviews of people like Colleen McLoughlin, who’s got such a strong Liverpudlian accent, and also I’ve been listening to Merseybeat Radio to get it in my head. But you always feel a bit nervous about doing accents unless you’re 100% confident.
Frankie has an interesting look...
In the script, it says she’s punkish. But when I met with the costume designer, Annie, I wanted it to be really specific because there are lots of different factors. She’s punkish but she’s not Camden punkish. She’s arty and she’s very different to anybody else where she’s from and she’s aware of it. She needs to make a statement because she’s got a lot of angst. She’s really into her music and her art so we wanted to make it different and punky without being typical. We wanted to show that she had taste but we had to be careful that she lives in Cumbria, so it’s second-hand things instead of being able to pop down to Camden and get some piercings and whatever. She would have to root around for stuff. It was really fun getting the look. It did take a while, we had a real play with it. The cinematographer, Richard Greatrex, wanted there to be colour in this film and not for it to be another ‘dull up North’ film, so we decided that red would be Frankie’s colour and it really punches out of the screen. She’s got red on at some point in every scene.
So she’s a Liverpool fan, then?
I don’t think she supports football teams. (laughs)
The hair is – and this might date me a bit – very Saffron from Republica...
That is the sort of thing we were sort of thinking. In the script, it says that she’s into her film noir, so we thought of Saffron from Republica or a Louise Brooks type, but something really strong with taste and style. I had my hair cut really short for another film I did and I said I’m not going to do it again and I couldn’t dye my hair because I was doing a period film at the same time, so these are put-in red streaks. The make-up’s really strong. I don’t usually wear this much make-up. When we were playing around with it, I had quite a lot of say and I wanted a really aggressive look as you first meet her and as the film develops, she softens and becomes more elegant. But this is the first day you see her so this is the majorly aggressive, upset bitch. She’s in her angsty teenage stage.
Why is Frankie attracted to Paul?
He’s different. She hangs around, she’s trapped and she hates being in this little town that she lives in. Nobody has any interest in anything she’s interested in. They’re all sheltered people. When she meets Paul, he’s different. He reads and he’s quite funny, not in a laddish way but in an intellectual way and he lives in London, which makes her think ‘wow, you must be so cool’. And he’s real, he’s not like anybody else. Initially she’s really angry with him but then she softens.
It’s a hell of a cast, what with Mackenzie and Colm and Imelda…
It’s because the script is so good, I think people are happy to want to do it. The idea alone is really intriguing. I’ve only been acting professionally for the last six months so I still feel quite odd, so when I found out who the cast was, I was like, ‘fuck’. I always look up to women actors because I’m a woman, obviously, and Imelda has always been someone that I’ve absolutely admired so when I got to meet her, I was bowled over. It’s a real privilege to be cast in this because if they’re that good and they’re that good, then I must be alright to be in this cast. You think, fucking hell, that’s great!
What’s your background, Gemma?
I’m from Gravesend in Kent originally, not far away from London and I grew up there until I was eighteen and I left to go to drama school in London at RADA. I had a normal upbringing but I didn’t come from a theatrical background or anything.
So why acting?
I didn’t really want to do anything else! (laughs) I was always very good at art and things like that and I did really well at school but I just didn’t like school and I didn’t like the idea of going, so I left when I was 16 and went to Performing Arts College and it got to the point when I had to make a decision – was I going to do something about my hobby? So I auditioned for drama school and got in, but I was never one of these people who was like, ‘I have to act. I knew from the age of 2’, because it was a hobby. It wasn’t something I thought I would ever get work in.
And you’ve had the veritable rollercoaster ride in the last year or so...
Well, I graduated in July, so that is six months. I left a little bit early to do St. Trinian’s. It still doesn’t feel real. It still feels strange, but weird. It’s all been very quick, but I do know that it could end tomorrow, so I’m just enjoying it and I am enjoying myself.
Three And Out is set for DVD release on 15th September 2008.
