New Horizons For Actress Gemma Arterton In ‘Summerland’

British actress Gemma Arterton is best known for her glamorous leading lady roles including Bond girl Strawberry Fields in Quantum of Solace, the titular character in Gemma Bovery and Princess Tamina in Disney’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. She now tackles a decidedly less glamorous although completely captivating role in Summerland, playing an unkempt, reclusive writer with a sharp tongue and independent spirit.

Set mostly during World War II, Arterton stars as Alice, a scientific writer living a solitary life on the seaside cliffs of southern England, across the channel from the fighting. One day, she opens her door to Frank, a 14-year-old evacuee from London, which is being bombarded by German planes. Reluctantly, she agrees to take care of the boy but—initially, at least—she is ill-prepared for the task, which interferes with her scientific work examining and debunking ancient magic-filled folklore. Frank’s inquisitiveness and open-mindedness soon softens his emotionally closed-off hostess.

The audience discovers what led to Alice’s construction of her emotional wall through a series of flashbacks. She is haunted by a long-ago memory of a romance with a beautiful woman, Vera (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), with whom she shared a remarkable kinship before they were driven apart by society’s intolerance, as well as their own incongruous plans for their lives.

Summerland is written and directed by Jessica Swale, an acclaimed playwright making her feature film debut. Swale initially wrote the character of Alice as a middle-aged woman, but once she got to know Arterton, who starred in her play Nell Gwynn, she re-wrote the screenplay for a younger woman that Arterton could play. The film also stars British acting legends Tom Courtenay and Penelope Wilton, as well as newcomers Lucas Bond and Dixie Egerickx. The film’s title refers to a mythical place where non-Christian (and pre-Christian) souls went when they die, according to the ancient folklore that Alice explains to Frank.

By phone from her home in sunny London where she is busy developing projects through her Rebel Park Productions, Arterton says she relished the opportunity to work with Swale on her debut feature film, and perform alongside a remarkable cast in a period film with a contemporary sensibility. Summerland is in select theaters and on VOD and Digital platforms.

Angela Dawson: You previously worked with Jessica Swale on the West End production of her play Nell Gwynn. Did she tell you she had you in mind for Alice when she was writing this?

Gemma Arterton: No. When she wrote the draft of Summerland, I don’t think we even knew each other. Alice, initially, was written as much older. I had asked to read the script because I wanted to produce something of hers. I didn’t read it with an actor’s hat but with a producer’s hat on. I loved the script. I was completely inspired by it. I told her that she needed to direct the film; she hadn’t directed anything on screen yet. And she said to me, “Why don’t I write Alice for you and change the story slightly so that you can play her?” That was a real surprise. I had no idea because I hadn’t read it with myself in mind at all. So, it came about in a very different way than scripts normally come to me.

Dawson: It’s a heartwarming story set against the backdrop of the evacuation of London during World War II, where this reclusive writer is emotionally reawakened when she is called upon to take care of this young boy in her home.

Arterton: Yeah, I think this story could have taken place at any time. It definitely deals with contemporary issues. Jessica (Swale) always wanted to have a little boy turn up on the doorstep but she couldn’t work out why or how that would be possible, until she decided to set it during World War II, and she could make it an evacuee story. But, really, it could be set during any time, really. It’s not a story about the war.

Dawson: You co-star with Gugu Mbatha-Raw who, interestingly enough, also starred in Jessica Swale’s Nell Gwynn stage play. So, two of her leading ladies who played the same character wound up in her first feature film.

Arterton: Yes. I think it’s so nice of Jessica that she brought two of her really good friends with her on her first feature. It was a lovely, serendipitous-type thing. I remember when Gugu played Nell Gwynn (at Shakespeare’s Globe), she got great reviews, and then I took over the role when it came to the West End and (Mbatha-Raw) gave me her blessing. She came up to me at dinner—I didn’t really know here then—and she told how pleased she was that I was taking on the role. That was such a lovely thing for an actress to say to another actress. So, there’s a lot of good will between the three of us, and that was so important on our film. I just felt that it was made with a lot of love, care and friendship. It certainly made our scenes together all the more enjoyable.

Dawson: Another star in this film is Tom Courtenay. His character, Frank’s schoolteacher, is kind of afraid of you. In fact, most people in the small town where Alice lives are kind of afraid of her.

Arterton: Yeah, I think Tom Courtenay was a bit afraid of me. (She laughs.) He is the sweetest, loveliest man. I remember there was one day on set—and Tom Courtenay was coming in and out throughout the shoot—there’s a scene toward the end where we’re outside and he’s saying how hard it is to be a parent. It was towards the end of the shoot and I was really tired and I was really “in” the character and not being Gemma very much. I think I was quite direct with him and short with him during that scene.

He sent me an email the next day, expressing his concern about how blunt I had been with him. And I responded with an apology that I was so sorry and that I didn’t mean to offend him, and he accepted it. But, what a lovely man. We were so lucky to get him. He brings such warmth and truth, and you can’t help but love him. He was just a joy to work with.

Dawson: Your rapport with the two children in the film, played by Lucas Bond and Dixie Egerickx, was great. How was it working with these two young actors?

Arterton: We were so lucky. It was a big search to find the right actor to play Frank. We needed someone that could do the comedy as well as the drama. It’s a challenging role for a young lad. He had to have the energy to be on set all day, and Lucas had all of those qualifications, thankfully. The film had a magical feel to it and Frank needed to be curious and inquisitive. Lucas has that naturally. Lucas and I had a really great relationship—we still do. He’s a very special soul and we were very lucky that we got him.

Kids are so grown up these days. Dixie and Lucas were around 11 or 12 when they were making this … but going on 18. But it was cool because we could joke around and mess about together. It was like having another adult actor on set. We could have proper chats with them.

Dawson: Is Summerland’s castle on the water’s horizon phenomenon based on actual naturally occurring events mixed with folklore or was that made up by Jessica Swale?

Arterton: It’s based on a real occurrence that people saw. If you go online, you can see instances of it that have been filmed. There is a science to it but as with most myths and folklore, it comes from somewhere (real). One of the reasons Jessica wrote Summerland was because she wanted to explore ancient English culture. She was starting to feel disconnected from British culture after Brexit and what was happening in our country, and she wanted to explore nature and our connection to nature. The pagans were much more connected to nature and magic. She’s a real aficionado.

Dawson: After watching Summerland, audiences may look at sunsets over the water a little differently.

Arterton: Yeah, you never know what you might see.

Dawson: An earlier film of yours, Their Finest (2017), also was set during World War II. Did you feel grounded in that era for a while?

Arterton: I slipped into a couple other eras in-between but, you’re right, I have made these two films that are set during the (second) world war. They both delved into the female experience. I’m proud of that, actually.

Dawson: What have you been doing over the past few months during the lockdown?

Arterton: I’ve been in London and I’ve been quite productive. I have a production company (Rebel Park Productions). This time has been great for us in terms of development. We have five projects in development and I’ve been able to really focus on them. Usually, when I’m away filming things, I can’t focus too much on producing. So, that’s been great.

Also, Jessica Swale and I have started writing a new project together, which has been so brilliant. I’ve never written before so it’s been really amazing to get into that. It’s exciting. I wish I could talk about it but I can’t. And my husband (Rory Keenan) has written a film that I’m going to be in that he’s going to direct. So, it’s been quite productive, creatively. But it’s also been dull and boring at times—sitting around and watching too much TV.

Dawson: Have you honed your skills on any particular home project?

Arterton: I don’t know if I’ve gotten really good at anything but I have been baking a bit and I’ve been painting. I did a portrait of my sister (actress Hannah Arterton), which I’ve been meaning to do for about 15 years. I finally did it and I’m pleased with it.  My husband and I have been watching all the classic films that we’d never seen, that we should have seen, like Robert Altman and Ingmar Bergman (films)—all sorts of stuff. That’s been so cool.

Dawson: You’ve got The King’s Man coming out in September. What can you say about being in that film? You play a character named Polly. What can you say about her?

Arterton: It’s so good; they screened it for me about a week ago. It’s just so much fun. I had an amazing time shooting it. It’s a prequel to the Kingsman films with Taron Egerton and Colin Firth. It’s set during the First World War, and it’s slightly different in tone (from the previous Kingsman films). It has more of a serious tone but it’s still very stylish. It has a lot more emotion in it. My character, Polly, is Ralph Fiennes’ right-hand woman. I run his household and I’m the nanny to his son. As the film progresses, you learn that with Polly, there’s more to her than meets the eye.