Gemma Arterton's North West Kent College drama teacher talks about the star's career

Robbie McGovan, head of performing and technical arts at North West Kent College, talks to Kerry Ann Eustice about what it was like to train Gemma, his thoughts on her career to date and what it is about the Miskin Theatre which helps develop and nurture the stars of the future.

Robbie, can you tell us about your first impressions of current Bond girl Gemma Arterton?

Yeah, my first impressions were the same as my first impressions with most of students which come to the Miskin really. My first encounter of her was at the audition process. She was very confident, she knew what she was after. But there’s a lot of background to this because we trained her mother. Her mother trained here, she trained here and her [younger] sister did too. She’s now followed Gemma onto RADA now, they live together in London.

It started with her mother, so I remember Gemma as quite a young child. That was my first impression of Gemma. Then she came to audition. She knew her stuff, she was obviously confident in herself at that point. I tend to divide our company into people who come in looking for confidence and people who arrive with confidence intact, and Gemma’s obviously was very intact.

She did a fine audition and was given a place without any reservations at all. She was with us for two years and we did a whole range of work with her. The big piece of work I did with her was the Christmas production, she played a very wacky character in it.

What was she like to work with?

It was nice to watch Gemma playing comedy. She can play comedy well, that’s not what she’s been seen to do now so much, but I’m sure that will come round for her. But she was a really strong member of the company. She’s very intense, a very intelligent young girl. She’s not one who’s just relying on her looks and her talent. From what I remember she was always very well read and continually reading, going into depth in terms of what she was doing.

She was a fairly quiet member, she was very strong but relatively quiet. She’d read her way through things, keep her own space so she could concentrate on what she was doing which she did continuously.

She did a range of things – physical theatre – as we do a lot of that – comedy and high drama, Gemma always shone in what she did.

Did you predict back then she would be this successful and see potential from her?

Well, we don’t tend to go that way. We predicted she would go on. If you’re asking me if I saw a Bond girl when I was watching her in the Christmas show, then I can’t say that. She’s very clear, very mature and down to earth in ambition. She was clear she was going to go on and we were clear she absolutely was going to, she has an awful lot to offer.

She does bring that - she’s obviously a lovely-looking lass - intelligence and real strength that she has and intensity to what she does.

She was a good actor, and she showed she was an actor early on. She was never stuck, never a just a student there being lost in something. She arrived as a young actor and developed her acting skills at the Miskin. I’m very proud to say this place is for that.

It’s very exciting. We’ve seen quite a few people go on. We knew there’d be an interest in her and it was interesting having this family issue, with her mother and when Gemma went her sister Hannah arrived. Hannah’s going on as well, she has a lot going for her too. There are similarities but they’re very different to each other as well, in their approach.

I love the fact, the Bond girl thing was a surprise. The whole Tess [of the D’Urbervilles] thing is very Gemma. I could have predicted that was the kind of work she would go into. I thought Tess was tremendous.

So you’ve been following her career so far?

Yes. It’s a bit difficult to avoid, she’s been on the cover of all the national newspapers for weeks. But it’s also interesting because our current actors are also keeping up. They were adding to their blogs and reviewing Tess of the D’Urbervilles. Although they didn’t know Gemma, they do regard her as one of their own. And that’s a great thing. They regard her as Miskin. She’s still got that presence.

Do you think there’s something special about the Miskin Theatre? The fact the company has so much ownership over their work helping to create such strong performers, perhaps?

It is that independence the actors, musicians and dancers get there. That’s what it is because they’re not treated like students, that independence. No-one leaves with the Miskin stamped on their bum, but they get that opportunity.

It’s a very big presence now in Kent, the Miskin, and it was very ideal for Gemma because she was determined and very set on a pathway. Miskin gave her room to manoeuvre and space to play with where she wanted to be going.

She had very close relationships with the physical directors there, a load of work she did was fascinated in the physical theatre side of what she was doing. We’ve created loads of very successful working actors, Gemma’s our first star. The young people involved are always very excited because loads of our guys come back and direct in the space. I can’t imagine Gemma has got a single moment going now but in the future she might.

Has Gemma’s success had any impact on the company?

It’s a circular thing, it gets our guys very excited because it puts what they’re doing in context for them. It’s not just an empty dream for them if someone goes on and very clearly they are up there. She’s very down-to-earth, it’s fantastic. She comes from the same kind of streets they come from and education they were in.

They talk a lot about there being ghosts in the Miskin, but not in the terms of outer-body experiences, but what everybody leaves behind when then move on. It creates the atmosphere. She’s somebody who has moved on and she’s still got a pressure because of that.

I’m very proud of where she’s at, it’s tremendous for her. She’s gone to where she wanted to go to that great and the Miskin is somewhere in the background and at the beginning of that.

It’s a wee bit unreal we worked together when she was a child and now she’s doing what she’s doing and that’s fantastic. I know the other directors who worked with her love the fact she’s doing what she really set her heart on doing. It’s great for everybody.

It’s made me watch Hannah’s progress with even more interest, she’s now got loads to follow on with. She’s a brilliant singer Hannah, as well. We’re all loving it and are so chuffed.

Quantum of Solace (12A) is released in cinemas on Friday.

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