Thursday, 16 January 2014

I’d like to be older to get better roles, says Gemma Arterton

I’d like to be older to get better roles, says Gemma Arterton


Big challenge: Gemma Arterton says The Duchess of Malfi is ‘a monster’ of a play (Picture: Anthony Harvey/Getty)

Louise Jury, Chief Arts Correspondent 

Most actresses want to wish advancing years away – but former Bond girl Gemma Arterton is desperate to be older.
The 28-year-old Quantum of Solace star revealed she is looking forward to 10 years hence and more parts as challenging as the title role in the Jacobean classic The Duchess of Malfi, which opens tonight as the first production in a new indoor theatre at Shakespeare’s Globe.
“I always feel like I’m too young for the parts I want to play,” she said.  “When you’re young, you should play the ingénues and the love interest and there are some great parts like that.
“But the ones I’m into are those complex ones, the type of role that rings within you. You tend to have to be a little older. I know you should be happy where you’re at. But in 10 years’ time, that’s when I’ll be playing the parts that get me going.”
For now, she said the title role in John Webster’s revenge tragedy was “the most difficult part she has tackled since making her professional debut at the Globe in 2007 in Love’s Labour’s Lost, straight out of Rada.
It was great to be back, she said.  “I feel like I’m coming home when I do theatre. It’s my passion. And my first ever job was at the Globe.”
But the part of the Duchess, a “very happy and positive” woman plunged into nightmarish violence, was emotionally challenging and the language of 400 years ago was demanding.
“It’s quite a monster, this play. It’s been a real challenge but hopefully it’s in a good place,” she said.
The Duchess of Malfi is the first production in the new Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, which completes the vision of the American actor who founded the Globe to present Shakespeare as it would originally have been seen. The shell of the wooden indoor theatre, lit by candles, was built into original plans but it has taken years and £7.5 million to realise.
Arterton said: “It feels such an honour to be opening this brand new space. It’s absolutely beautiful, one of the most beautiful theatres I have ever seen.
“It’s painted with the most beautiful heaven-scape — stars — and there’s lots of gold leaf in there, so because of the candlelight it glistens.”
The playhouse, which has been designed by architect Jon Greenfield who has worked on it since 1986, has only 340 seats. It is based on research which shows such theatres were the next development after open-air stages like the Globe.
The Duchess of Malfi runs until February 16. shakespearesglobe.com