TORONTO - Gemma Arterton may be the hottest screen knockout to hit Hollywood since Angelina Jolie. But she sports a honker of a nose and ditches that beauty big time in Stephen Frears' spritely new comedy "Tamara Drewe."
"Playing a femme fatale all the time has its limitations," Arterton told CTV.ca on Sunday in Toronto.
The rising British star ought to know.
She played Bond Girl "Strawberry Fields" in 2008's "Quantum of Solace," and the babe with the unforgettable face in 2010's "Clash of the Titans" and "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time."
But the 24-year-old star saw potential of a new kind in "Tamara Drewe," a story about an ugly duckling who beautifies herself thanks to plastic surgery and then returns to the English village where she grew up to wreak havoc on her old flames.
"The minute that nose was on my face I felt like some great comic side of me had been unleashed," said Arterton.
"I loved that stretch. I'm definitely looking for more of that in the future."
Based on Posy Simmonds' comic strip for the British newspaper, the Guardian, and her graphic novel, Frears' English-side comedy is a jaunty adaptation of Thomas Hardy's book, "Far From the Madding Crowd."
The story opens in a literary retreat, where several writers (including an American doing a book about Hardy) are holed up trying to finish their novels.
The female writers pass the hours eyeing the gorgeous handyman (Luke Evans) working on the farm.
The retreat's dutiful female owner serves delicious scones to her guests all days long.
Her famous writer husband beds anything moving while he's away at book signings.
When Tamara, the famous music writer, bolts into town with her sexy sports car and fabulous new face, the outward perfection of this country village goes totally to the dogs.
Suddenly people are duped, hearts are broken and pompous, cheating weasels get their comeuppance in the most dark, delightful ways.
And all along the way Arterton delivers a strong, wry performance as a "perfect" super-woman who is perfectly miserable in her heart.
"Tamara is totally lost," says Arterton.
"She comes off like she's totally in control. But she's not. She desperately needs someone to care for her. She's lost. She's vulnerable. She doesn't have a clue how to fix it.
"That, really, is what makes Tamara so wonderful – at least for me," said Arterton with a smile.
Arterton said she has counted herself among those who have felt lost and didn't know where they were going in life.
"I can remember going back to my hometown in England and having people say, ‘Huh! Who is she? She thinks she's better than us now because she's an actress.'
"Yeah, I went to London and fell into this career. And yes, my life has certainly changed a lot because of it, especially in the last year," said the one-time makeup salesgirl.
"But nobody's life is perfect. Not ever. Human beings are all the same. They just want to be loved."
