CROUCHING GEMMA: Hidden Child Under That Pouffy Dress. Erm... Maybe

Oh yes, Gemma Arterton has been a busy girl, carving out a name for herself like nobody’s business. But, despite finding stardom at a relatively impressionable age (she was 21 when she came to the world’s attention in Quantum of Solace), at the still fairly tender age of 24, Gemma keeps both feet on the ground. Her job may take her to some glamorous locations around the globe but it’s good old Blighty that provides the setting for some of her favourite places.

“I [always] wanted to live in London,” says the Kent-born cutie. So it was fitting that Gemma celebrated her engagement last year to Stefano (body double of James Bond himself – Daniel Craig – no less) whom she met on the set of Quantum of Solace, in Soho‘s Sun & 13 Cantons brasserie.

So where else does Gemma like to go on a night out in the capital?

“The Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club has burlesque and circus nights every month that I love,” she enthuses. “And the Pigalle Club in Piccadilly is a great, glam night out.”

Gemma has also been known to visit the Audley pub in Mayfair, but it isn’t all about partying for the down-to-earth starlet, whose gorgeous curves are kept in shape with a healthy dose of… fish and chips.

She has good memories of going to Gig’s fish and chip restaurant off Charlotte Street when she was at drama school. Describing it as “the best sit-down fish and chip restaurant in London”, Gemma praises the traditional British dish, as cooked at Gigs. “The fish is great and tastes gorgeous,” she says. “It’s a bit more pricey than a normal chippy but it’s worth it.”

For more chilled out days, Gemma likes Hampstead Heath. “Just lying on the grass looking up at the sky,” she sighs. “There’s something so quintessentially London about it.”

When she’s not chillaxing in the city, there’s another area of the country that holds a special place in her heart. “Dorset, I love!” she exclaims. “I actually do love it. I’m blushing because I love it!”

Well, whoever would have thought that a love for a place would make somebody blush? It makes you wonder just what went on when Gemma was last in the south-western county…

This article was originally published on www.whereandnow.com