Gemma Arterton Video Interview On Luke Evans, ‘Tamara Drewe’

She’s was a sexy Bond girl. Now Gemma Arterton is playing an ugly duckling whose nose job changes her life in the hilarious new film Tamara Drewe.

Q: What were you like at Tamara’s age?

A: You know, I was never, you know, like these kids you see nowadays that are so confident and glamorous. You know what I mean? You see these kids that are so glamorous and fashion-conscious. I was never like that. It just didn’t cross my mind. I was into amateur dramatics and books and stuff. So, yeah, I wasn’t image-conscious or anything like that. I remember being 14 and really fancying this boy and then he wasn’t interested, and thinking, ‘What’s wrong?’ You know, but everybody has that.

Q: You wear a prosthetic nose in the movie. What was that like?

A: Yeah, it was great actually. I loved the prosthetic nose bits ’cause it just was – ya know, I had a chance to just be silly. I have quite a small nose, naturally, and so they wanted to make it look ridiculous and kind of unbelievable, in a way, in size. So the nose was made and then Stephen [Frears] would say just make it bigger and bigger and it ended up being really large. And, yeah, I did a test. When I first had the nose put on I went around in my school uniform and the wig that I wear and people ignored me on set and told me to leave and not make cups of tea for myself because it was for the cast and crew, and it was actually really helpful because that’s how Tamara feels inside all the time. But I loved it and I still have the nose, actually. I’ve got it in my downstairs loo.

Q: Had you heard of the graphic novel before you read the script for ‘Tamara Drewe’?

A: No, I wasn’t. The first thing I read was the script, and then I was sent the graphic novel as back-up, you know. It was interesting because I read the script and loved it. It really captured my imagination and it was unique and fresh and clever. But I couldn’t really place myself; I couldn’t really visualize it because I’m not from that world, and it felt odd to me. And then when I read the graphic novel it just sort of lit it all up for me. And I could see — you know, when you’ve got it right there in front of you — you can see these characters and how detailed they are and how really well-observed they are. And so that was what did it for me. I sort of said, Well, of course, this is a dream job, and have since read all of Posy’s [Simmonds] books. She’s absolutely just such an incredible woman, and she should be an actress because she’s so good at characters and observing characters. Yeah, she’s amazing.

Q: Could you empathize with anything in Tamara’s story?

A: Yeah, I mean, the reason I wanted to play her is because at first I didn’t get her at all. I just didn’t understand why she did the things she did, and I wanted to work out why. I suppose you draw from your own experiences as much as you can, and then you have to use your imagination or draw from people that you’ve met. I suppose the only thing that we can relate to is that we were both sort of geeky when we were younger and then went away to the big city and transformed and I suppose that’s it. Everything else is kind of new to me. I suppose she’s quite sparky and quite witty. I like to think of myself as both. [Laughs.] Actually, most of the characterization came from somebody that I had met who was very similar to Tamara Drewe, and I always was intrigued by this person because I didn’t understand them, and I felt sorry for them. So, yeah, for me it was quite – I still feel like I haven’t worked her out. She’s kind of a conundrum. And when I first read the script, I thought, ‘Ah, finally an accurate and honest and brave portrayal of a woman written by a woman – you know, something that’s not sugar-coated or overly-explained. And women are conundrums.