Gemma Arterton is taking on her best role yet

For those unacquainted with Funny Woman, the series tells the story of a Blackpool-born beauty queen who decides to tackle the male-dominated world of Sixties television in the Big Smoke. Now
in its second series, it could be said that the show rests on the lighter side of Arterton’s roles. “My personal tastes have always been, um, quite heavy,” she admits. “But I fluctuate between doing that and really light stuff. I think that’s part of my personality.” Nevertheless, it seems unlikely that Arterton would have accepted the role had some more serious topics not been embedded beneath Funny Woman’s fluorescent, Swinging Sixties exterior. “I wouldn’t say anything I do is daft,” the actress justifies. Indeed, adopting the diminutive is far from anything the drama could be accused of. From foreshadowing the women’s rights movement that, in reality, materialised towards the end of the decade, to delving into the confines of family structures as dictated by what the status quo was at the time, Funny Woman is as much a social commentary as it is a story of personal tribulations. “It just makes me think, you know, how lucky we are nowadays that things like divorce and having children out of wedlock have become so much more accepted in society,” Arterton reflects.