Gemma Arterton has revealed what it was really like sharing the screen with Rafe Spall, and how their shared love of improvisation enhanced their performances. The pair lead the cast of ITV’s new espionage drama, Secret Service, starring as married couple Kate and Stuart Henderson.
Adapted from ITV News anchor Tom Bradby’s best-selling novel of the same name, Secret Service follows Kate, a senior MI6 officer who heads the Russia Desk at the Secret Intelligence Service. When her undercover operations expose alarming evidence that a high-ranking politician may be a Russian asset, Kate is drawn into a desperate race against time to uncover their identity and save her agent. Outside of work, Kate is also balancing her marriage to Stuart, who is kept in the dark about the nature of her operations.
Explaining what it was like to work alongside the 43-year-old, Gemma exclusively told the Daily Express and other publications: “He’s great. He’s cut from the same cloth as me. He’s a great actor, very playful. He loves improvisation the same as me. It was very easy for us to have that naturalness and when needed, it’s there if you need to go in for a big scene, which we do.
Gemma, 40, revealed that their shared sensibility allowed them to create an authentic on-screen dynamic throughout the five-part drama.
“Only in small sections because the script was so brilliant and I didn’t feel we needed to embellish it in any way,” she explained. “There’s little moments. I think Rafe can’t help but improvise! It’s in his DNA!”
The actress added: “He’s great. He’s really great fun and a proper lovely guy to be around.”
When preparing for the role of Kate, Gemma said the book provided plenty of detail, but she also carried out her own research, including speaking with a former head of MI6’s Middle East desk.
But rather than focusing on the operational details of the job, Gemma admitted she was more interested in how intelligence officers balance the secretive work with an ordinary life.
She explained: “I had access to somebody who used to be head of the Middle East desk and that was really helpful. Not necessarily the day-to-day job of working for MI6 but more how they live their lives and how they manage to have a marriage and children but also do this high-stakes job that they can’t talk to anyone about.
“Just to meet the person and get the idea of personality traits. That was the part that I was more interested in, how these people live their lives and the character traits they have.”
Secret Service premieres tonight on ITV at 9pm.
