Gemma Arterton has revealed that she struggles to get cast in serious roles after playing a Bond Girl in Quantum of Solace.
It's been all about the blockbuster movies for the British actress this year after finding success with Clash of the Titans and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time but believed that she had to take on a gritty project such as The Disappearance of Alice Creed to show that she could take on a serious role.
Speaking to MSN Movies the actress said: "I needed to do it for my own sanity as I was getting lost playing the girlfriend or the wishy washy role. I needed to do something that was raw."
"There aren't that many 'down and dirty' roles out there and they certainly don't want to see me for them.
"I remember the director didn't want to see me because he thought, 'She's a Bond girl, she's not going to be able to do the stuff she needs to do' and that's exactly why I wanted to see him, because it was like, 'Well, you need to change your judgement'."
Arterton is back on the big screen next week as she teams up with The Queen filmmaker Stephen Frears for Tamara Drewe, in which she plays the title character.
And she admits that she was 'flattered' when Frears asked her to take on the central part in his new movie.
"I was really flattered that he [Frears] wanted me to play Tamara and he was quite adamant about it actually.
"He hadn't seen me in anything before he cast me, which I found kind of weird. I begged him to let me audition but he said 'no'. Then I realised he works through instinct."
A second Clash of the Titans movie is in the pipeline and Arterton is expected to return to her role as Io.
Tamara Drewe is released 10th September.
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