Backstage With… Gemma Arterton on new show Funny Woman: ‘You have to make a fool of yourself’
Gemma Arterton’s latest show may be set in the 1960s – but with a lead character desperate to establish herself in a man’s world, it still resonates today.
In Funny Woman, based on Nick Hornby’s 2016 bestseller Funny Girl, the Bond actress plays Barbara, a woman who leaves Blackpool for London to follow her dream of becoming a sitcom star.
Along the way she encounters prejudices about the roles that attractive women should perform – both on and off screen.
Gemma Arterton (left) as Barbara, with scriptwriter Morwenna Banks, who plays Patsy in the show. Pic: Ben Blackall/Potboiler Productions/Sky UK
While it’s a period piece, the series is a reminder that perhaps not enough has changed in the film and TV industry, with Arterton describing it as still “very looks obsessed”.
“Often when you’re casting something you get sent a headshot and, you know, you’re judging a headshot, that is how it sort of starts,” she told Sky News’ Backstage podcast.
“I think it’s different now – especially with things like body image and what is seen as beautiful is definitely being challenged, and that’s only a good thing.
“But yeah, unfortunately it’s part of the world we live in. I think we’re all quite visual people and whether we like to admit it or not we do tend to judge people off first impressions – but it is changing, so that’s good.”
Arterton says she was drawn to the story years ago when she first read Hornby’s novel, so when the production company that won the rights approached her with a script by comedy actress Morwenna Banks – offering her both the lead role and the opportunity to make it a co-production with her own company – Arterton said it was a “no brainer” – despite it being a huge amount of work.
“I cared about it so much as well, it meant a lot to me, more than most things,” she said. “Trying to grapple with getting the character first of all, and nailing that, and that it was quite a transformation for me physically and also just performatively.
“Finding that and also finding the funny, finding the clown, and finding all of that and doing work on that and letting go and being silly and ridiculous.”
Tom Bateman also stars. Pic: Ben Blackall/Potboiler Productions/Sky UK
The actress says that in order to be truly funny, she learned she had to be willing to look silly.
“You do just have to make a fool of yourself. I mean you’re not always funny – you have to try stuff out and make loads of mistakes and fall flat on your face…
“I did loads of clowning workshops and things to try and get out of my head and get into my body and find the more naive side of the character.”
But during that training, Arterton admits she may have let go a little too much at one point.
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“I remember I was doing this day with this amazing guy called Toby Cedric who really helped me do a lot of the physical stuff, and I had this red nose on and he was like: ‘You’ve got to keep running into the room and do something and then run out again.’
“So I was doing it and I just kept doing it, and one time the door – and it was a fire door – shut and I ran into it really hard and I knocked myself out. I literally knocked myself out on this massive fire door because you’re being so naive and open and wide-eyed and you just don’t think about practical things like that a door might shut – but it all really, really helped, anyway.”
Funny Woman is streaming on Sky Max and streaming service Now – hear our review on the new episode of Backstage, the film and TV podcast from Sky News
An emergency vote on Israel’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest has been called off following developments in the Middle East, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has said.
Contest organisers had scheduled “an extraordinary meeting of [its] general assembly to be held online” in early November after several countries said they would no longer take part in Eurovision if Israel participated.
The EBU said in a statement that following “recent developments in the Middle East” the executive board had agreed on Monday that there should be an in-person discussion among members “on the issue of participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026”.
It said the matter had now been added to the agenda of its winter general assembly, which will take place in December.
Further details about the session would be shared with EBU members in the coming weeks, it added.
It is not clear if a vote will still take place at a later date.
Austria is hosting next year’s show in Vienna. The country’s national broadcaster, ORF, told Reuters news agency it welcomed the EBU’s decision.
Sky News has contacted Israeli broadcaster KAN for comment.
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Will Eurovision boycott Israel?
Faced with controversy over the conflict in Gaza, Eurovision – which labels itself a non-political event – had said member countries would vote on whether Israel should or shouldn’t take part.
Slovenia and broadcasters from Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland and Iceland had all issued statements saying if Israel was allowed to enter, they’d consider boycotting the contest.
As one of the “Big Five” backers of Eurovision, Spain’s decision to leave the competition would have a significant financial impact on the event – which is the world’s largest live singing competition.
In September, a letter from EBU president Delphine Ernotte Cunci, said “given that the union has never faced a divisive situation like this before” the board agreed it “merited a broader democratic basis for a decision”.
Read more:
Why Eurovision vote on Israel might not stop boycott
Could Eurovision boycott lead to a competition crisis?
On Monday, Palestinian militant group Hamas freed the last living Israeli hostages from Gaza, and Israel released busloads of Palestinian detainees, under a ceasefire deal aimed at bringing an end to the two-year war in the Middle East.
The war began when Hamas stormed into Israel on October 7 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage.
Israel invaded Gaza in retaliation, with airstrikes and ground assaults devastating much of the enclave and killing more than 67,000, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Its figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants but it says around half of those killed were women and children.
Entertainment
Diane Keaton, star of Annie Hall and The Godfather, has died aged 79 – US media reports
Actress Diane Keaton, who starred in films including The Godfather and Annie Hall, has died, reports have said.
People reported her death at the age of 79, citing a family spokesperson.
The magazine said she died in California with loved ones but no other details were immediately available, and representatives for Keaton did not immediately respond to inquiries from The Associated Press news agency.
Keaton’s death was also reported by the New York Times newspaper which said it has spoken to Dori Roth, who produced a number of Keaton’s most recent films, who confirmed she had died but did not provide any details about the circumstances.
With a long career, across a series of movies that are regarded as some of the best ever made, Keaton was widely admired.
She was awarded an Oscar, a BAFTA and two Golden Globe Awards, and was also nominated for two Emmys, and a Tony, as well as picking up a series of other Academy Award and BAFTA nominations.
Diane Keaton, with her best actress Oscar for ‘Annie Hall’ in 1978. Pic: AP
Her best actress Oscar was for the Woody Allen film Annie Hall, which is said to be loosely based on her life.
She appeared in several other Allen projects, including Manhattan, as well as all three Godfather movies, in which she played Kay, the wife and then ex-wife of Marlon Brando’s son Michael Corleone, played by Al Pacino, opposite him as he descends into a life of crime and replaces his father in the family’s mafia empire.
‘Brilliant, beautiful’
The unexpected news was met with shock around the world.
Her First Wives Club co-star Bette Midler wrote on Instagram: “The brilliant, beautiful, extraordinary Diane Keaton has died. I cannot tell you how unbearably sad this makes me.
“She was hilarious, a complete original, and completely without guile, or any of the competitiveness one would have expected from such a star. What you saw was who she was … oh, la, lala!”
Actor Ben Stiller paid tribute on X, writing: “Diane Keaton. One of the greatest film actors ever. An icon of style, humor and comedy. Brilliant. What a person.”
Keaton was the kind of actor who helped make films iconic and timeless, from her “La-dee-da, la-dee-da” phrasing as Annie Hall, bedecked in the iconic necktie, bowler hat, vest and khakis, to her heartbreaking turn as Kay Adams, the woman unfortunate enough to join the Corleone family.
Keaton also frequently worked with Nancy Meyers, starting with 1987’s Baby Boom.
Their other films together included 1991’s Father of the Bride and its 1995 sequel, as well as 2003’s Something’s Gotta Give.
In 1996 she starred opposite Goldie Hawn and Midler in The First Wives Club, about three women whose husbands had left them for younger women.
More recently she collaborated with Jane Fonda, Mary Steenburgen and Candice Bergen on the Book Club films.
Keaton never married. She adopted a daughter, Dexter, in 1996 and a son, Duke, four years later.
Sky News has contacted Keaton’s agent for a comment.
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