Gemma Arterton

Gemma Christina Arterton is an English actress known for her diverse work across film, television, and theatre. Born on 2 February 1986, she first gained widespread public attention playing Bond Girl Strawberry Fields in the James Bond film Quantum of Solace (2008), a performance that earned her an Empire Award for Best Newcomer. She is also recognized for portraying secret agent Pollyana "Polly" Wilkins in the action war film The King's Man (2021), as well as for leading prominent stage productions in London.

Arterton was born at North Kent Hospital in Gravesend, Kent, to Sally-Anne Heap, a cleaning business owner, and Barry J. Arterton, a welder. Born with polydactyly, she had extra fingers removed shortly after birth. Following her parents' divorce during her early childhood, she grew up on a council estate with her mother and her younger sister, Hannah Arterton, who also became an actress. She attended Gravesend Grammar School for Girls, making her amateur stage debut in a local production of The Boy Who Fell into a Book. At age 16, she moved to the Miskin Theatre at North Kent College to study drama, before attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 2008.

While still in drama school, Arterton secured her first professional role in the television drama Capturing Mary. She made her professional stage debut in July 2007 as Rosaline in Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost at the Globe Theatre in London. That same year, she made her feature-film debut in the comedy St Trinian's. In 2008, she starred in Quantum of Solace and played title and leading roles in television adaptations, including Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Lost in Austen. That October, she became the face of Avon's Bond Girl 007 fragrance.

Arterton continued to expand her film and stage filmography with prominent roles in The Disappearance of Alice Creed (2009), Clash of the Titans (2010), Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010), and Tamara Drewe (2010), the latter of which contributed to her BAFTA Rising Star Award nomination in 2011. Her film work in subsequent years included Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013), The Voices (2014), and Gemma Bovery (2015), for which she learned French. On stage, she starred in West End and theatrical productions such as The Little Dog Laughed (2010), The Master Builder (2010), and the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse's inaugural production of The Duchess of Malfi (2014).

In 2014, Arterton starred in the West End musical Made in Dagenham, winning an Evening Standard Theatre Award and receiving an Olivier Award nomination. She earned a second Olivier Award nomination for playing the title role in Nell Gwynn (2016), and later starred in Saint Joan (2017). In 2016, she launched her own production company, Rebel Park Productions, to focus on female-led projects in front of and behind the camera, producing the short film Leading Lady Parts. She also earned a BIFA nomination for her supporting role in the dystopian film The Girl with All the Gifts (2016).

Arterton produced and starred in the 2018 film The Escape, receiving a BIFA nomination for Best Actress and winning the Harper's Bazaar Woman of the Year Award. Her subsequent projects include Their Finest (2016), Vita and Virginia (2018), Murder Mystery (2019), Summerland (2020), The King's Man (2021), and Sweet Dreams (2024). She married Stefano Catelli in 2010, divorcing in 2015, and later married actor Rory Keenan in 2019, with whom she has two children.