Since 2016, Arterton has run her own production company, Rebel Park Productions, which focuses on creating female-led content in front of and behind the camera.
Gemma Christina Arterton[1] was born on 2 February 1986[2] at North Kent Hospital inGravesend[3] withpolydactyly, a condition resulting in extra fingers which were removed shortly after her birth.[4] Her mother, Sally-Anne Heap, runs a cleaning business, and her father, Barry J. Arterton, is a welder.[5] They divorced while Arterton was a young child, and she grew up on a council estate with her mother and younger sister,Hannah Arterton, who is also an actress.[6] Her matrilineal great-grandmother was aGerman-Jewish concert violinist.[7]
Arterton attendedGravesend Grammar School for Girls,[8] inKent (now Mayfield Grammar School) and made her amateur stage debut in a production ofAlan Ayckbourn'sThe Boy Who Fell into a Book. Her performance won her the best-actress prize in a competition at a local festival.[9]
Her most controversial role to date was in the 2009 filmThe Disappearance of Alice Creed, in which her character is kidnapped and abused in several graphic nude scenes.[18] The role required her to be handcuffed to a bed and wear aball gag in her mouth throughout.[18] She requested that she be left tied to the bed even when the camera was not on her to help her performance. She joked that the crew would put the ball gag back in if she was chatting too much.[19] The film was well received, withFrank Scheck forThe Hollywood Reporter noting, "Arterton… handles the rigorous physical and emotional demands of her role with great skill".[20]
Arterton was the face ofAvon's Bond Girl 007 fragrance, when it was launched in October 2008. In 2010, Arterton made her West End debut in the UK premiere ofThe Little Dog Laughed. She was originally attached to star in a new adaptation ofWuthering Heights[21] as Catherine Earnshaw; however, she later left the project.[22]
In 2015, Arterton starred as the titular lead inGemma Bovery[30]. The film is a re-imagining ofGustave Flaubert's 19th century classicMadame Bovary directed byAnne Fontaine. Arterton learnt to speak French for the role,[31] never having spoken the language previously.[31]
In 2014–2015, Arterton starred inMade in Dagenham,[32] a stage musical about theFord sewing machinists strike of 1968 concerning equal pay for women. Since its premiere on 5 November 2014 at theAdelphi Theatre in London,[33] she has publicly expressed her support for their cause.[34] She played a fictional character named Rita O'Grady and her performance received mixed reviews from critics. Simon Edge, for theDaily Express, complained of an "underpowered central performance from Gemma Arterton as Rita".[35] However, Matt Trueman forVariety praised Arterton for her "all-out star turn"[36] and Paul Taylor, forThe Independent, praised how "Arterton holds the show together beautifully".[37] Despite the show closing after only five months, Arterton was nevertheless nominated for anOlivier Award for best actress in a musical,[38] and went on to win theEvening Standard award for Newcomer in a Musical.[39]
In a 2015 interview with theIndependent newspaper, Arterton stated that she was the directorJonathan Glazer's choice for the lead role in his movieUnder the Skin.[40] Glazer, however, was forced to recast because Arterton was not famous enough for the film to secure financing.[40]
In 2016, Arterton set up Rebel Park Productions to create female-lead and female-centric film and TV projects. She produced the well-received[48] short filmLeading Lady Parts in support ofTime's Up. The film starredEmilia Clarke,Tom Hiddleston andGemma Chan and helped to raise awareness for the UK Justice and Equality Fund.[49] In the same year, she played one of four lead roles inArnaud des Pallières' French language filmOrpheline (Orphan), a role in which she exercised the French language skills she had acquired for her role inGemma Bovery.[50]
In 2017, Arterton took on the role of Joan inJosie Rourke's interpretation ofGeorge Bernard Shaw's classic storySaint Joan. While the play itself received mixed reviews, Arterton's performance was widely praised as the highlight of the show.[51] In the same year, she appeared as the fictional young screenwriter Catrin Cole inTheir Finest, a wartime romcom about a propaganda film crew working during theSecond World War. Arterton's performance amongst the impressive ensemble of supporting actors (Bill Nighy,Sam Claflin, andEddie Marsan) was generally well received.[52]
In 2018, Arterton produced and co-createdThe Escape,[13] a largely improvised film about a mother struggling with the breakdown of her marriage. The film received excellent reviews,[53] and Arterton was nominated for aBIFA forBest Actress in a British Independent Film. She was awarded Woman of the Year[54] byHarper's Bazaar for her work on the film. Also in 2018, Arterton was one of 928 new members invited to join theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 49% of whom were female as part of the academy's ongoing attempt to increase representation.[55]
In 2018, Arterton was announced as playing late singerDusty Springfield in a film about her life.[56]
In 2019, Arterton appeared in theNetflix comedyMurder Mystery (which starsAdam Sandler,Jennifer Aniston, andLuke Evans). Despite the film's largely negative reviews, it was watched by 30.9 million Netflix account holders in its first three days of release, then a record for the streaming service.[57] In the same year, Arterton played socialite and authorVita Sackville-West inVita and Virginia, a film about the romantic relationship between Arterton's character andVirginia Woolf, which was the inspiration for Woolf's novelOrlando: A Biography. Arterton is credited as executive producer of the film.[58] She also produced and starred in the short filmHayley Alien, which was written and directed by her sister and co-star,Hannah Arterton.[59]
Arterton is on record[64] as being a supporter of theTime's Up, ERA 50:50, andMeToo movements. She played an integral role in persuading actresses to wear black at the 2018BAFTAs in support of Time'sUp,[65] and has been involved with ERA 50:50,[66] an equal-pay campaign in the UK, since its inception.
Arterton met production assistant John Nolan on the set ofQuantum of Solace and they lived together in London.[67] In 2008, she had a relationship with Spanish stuntman Eduardo Muñoz, whom she met on the set ofPrince of Persia: The Sands of Time. They lived together in a London flat for six months before the relationship ended.[68]
Arterton married Stefano Catelli in 2010.[69] They separated in 2013,[70] and, in August 2015, their divorce was finalised "by consent" at the Central Family Court inHigh Holborn.[71] Arterton said she "never really believed in exchanging vows" and that she was not sure she would "want to walk down the aisle again".[70][72] In 2013, Arterton stated that she wanted to wait until she has accomplished something in the acting world before having children.[73]
In 2019, Arterton married actorRory Keenan.[74] Their first son was born in December 2022.[75][76]
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