Can you keep a secret? Former Bond star has new ITV spy drama in her sights

Former Bond girl Gemma Arterton has said she is too much of a gossip to be a spy as she prepares to headline a new ITV espionage drama.

The 40-year-old actress also admitted she blushes far too easily for any real-life role with the intelligence agencies ahead of her appearance in the five-part series Secret Service, adapted from the novel of the same name by ITV news anchor Tom Bradby.

The star appeared as the ill-fated MI6 agent Strawberry Fields in the 2008 Bond movie Quantum Of Solace, opposite Daniel Craig as 007. She also played Polly in The King’s Man.

Arterton reflected on her latest role and what it has taught her about the “high pressure” job of being a spy.

Appearing on the podcast Dish from Waitrose, hosted by BBC Radio 6 Music star Nick Grimshaw and award-winning chef Angela Hartnett, Arterton hailed the “great team” behind the upcoming TV series.

She said: “I did (enjoy making it), I loved it. We have the director James Marsh – he did Man On Wire that won an Oscar, and The Theory Of Everything.

“And we had this wonderful cast. Also, the producers I’ve worked with before on this other show I did, called Funny Woman. So, it’s like a nice family.”

Arterton will star in the ITV thriller as senior MI6 officer Kate Henderson, who heads the Russia Desk at the Secret Intelligence Service when she learns that a UK politician may be a Russian asset.

On this, she said: “It was really fascinating actually delving into that world – which is a real world.

“(My character is) a sort of maverick. Youngest head of the Russia desk. High-pressured job, obviously.

“She’s in this job and she’s worked very hard to get there and she’s passionate about it, but it’s tentative. It’s often that people leave and are fired in those positions, because it’s such a high-pressure job.

“Sometimes you watch spy shows and they’re kind of like unattainable people. But these people that work for the Secret Service are real people that are living amongst us.

“And they have lives and they have kids, and families and relationships.”

Arterton went on to say that she is “too transparent” to work for MI6 in real life, and joked: “I blush – really easily.”

She also said she could not handle the role of a spy as it would entail lying to her family, adding: “I’m too much of a gossip.”

The actress, who is known for screen roles including Nina Land in The Critic, has also had a significant stage career and starred in productions such as Made In Dagenham and Nell Gwynn.

Reflecting on this, Arterton said: “I would love to (do stage again). It’s always going to be there. I love it. I’ll get back there.”

She also said rehearsing for stage productions is her “favourite thing ever”, and hailed the adrenaline of live performance.

The full interview with Gemma Arterton is available on the Dish from Waitrose podcast.

– Secret Service premieres on ITV1 and ITVX on Sunday April 26.