Gemma gives up sexy photoshoots

Gemma Arterton says she has posed for her last “sexy” men's magazine shoot as she takes control of her career. 

The star of Tamara Drewe and Tess of the D’Urbervilles told Vogue magazine that she has mixed feelings about being a sex symbol and will not be posing in her underwear again.

"I did this photoshoot for a men’s magazine a couple of years ago that was quite sexy, I suppose, but I don’t think I’d do anything like that again,” she said. “When it came out, I felt awkward, like I’d done something dirty. My mum was quite upset when she saw it.”

Arterton, 26, said that her early roles, such as Bond girl Strawberery Fields in Quantum of Solace and Kelly in the 2007 St Trinians "served their purpose" but she is now choosy about film roles and determined to portray strong women on screen.

"When I read the script, I'm like, 'Hmph! No.' I think it happens in most jobs where women aren't equal. You have to fight through that barrier and when you do, you feel emancipated and you can do your thing."

Arterton won critical acclaim for her role in the independent film The Disappearance of Alice Creed and her next role is in Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, which she describes as "a cross between Pan's Labyrinth and Kill Bill". Also in the pipeline is Byzantium, a "neo-feminist vampire movie".

She has also been approached to star in a film adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's The Master Builder after appearing in a London stage version last year.