Gemma Arterton named new Bond girl (sort of)

Posted Monday, January 7, 2008 at 12:15 PM Central

by Tim Briscoe

[Editor's note: please see this updated story]

Over the weekend, the British actress Gemma Arterton was announced as a cast member for this fall's 22nd film in the James Bond franchise.

Arterton follows a long and somewhat illustrious list of female leads in 007 movies. Bond 22, as it's being called for now, will be the second with Daniel Craig. He starred in 2006's Casino Royale with previous Bond girl Eva Green. (You know, I can't believe they didn't seize the opportunity to release a 007 in the year 2007. That's easy marketing, right there.)

Others in the history of Bond girls include Ursula Andress (the first in Dr. No), Barbara Bach, Jane Seymour, Kim Basinger, Halle Berry, Teri Hatcher, and Famke Janssen.

The 21-year-old Arterton has just few credits to her name including Brit school-girl comedy St. Trinian's. She is a product of London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. You'll also see Gemma in Guy Ritchie's RocknRolla in October. According to IMDb, her Bond character name will be Fields.

Others in Bond 22 include Judi Dench, Jeffrey Wright, Jesper Christensen, Giancarlo Giannini, and Mathieu Amalric. The movie will be in theaters on Nov. 7. Marc Forster directs.

Meanwhile, web site Just Jared (I don't think it's the Subway guy) has new photos from the set of Bond 22. No glimpses of Arterton, just 20+ shots of Mr. Craig looking dapper as you'd expect.