Gemma Arterton can speak French

Gemma Arterton has learned to speak French.

The 30-year-old British actress grew up in Kent, South East England, but has been working and living in Paris for over a year.

Gemma – who is dating assistant director Franklin Ohanessian, who is from France – was determined to be able to speak the language and not be like so many Brits living abroad who can only converse in English.

The brunette star appeared in French movie ‘Gemma Bovery’ and can soon be seen in Arnaud des Pallières’ ‘Orpheline’ and she insists expanding her language skills has been great for her career.

In an interview on UK TV show ‘Lorraine’, she said: "I’ve been working a lot over there [Paris] so I split my time, but I’ve been here a lot recently but I do miss it, I love Paris. I speak French now … for me learning French, it was hard but I’m really pleased I did because it’s opened up my life a lot, work-wise and just in general it’s always good to learn another language."

Gemma’s latest movie is post-apocalyptic zombie thriller ‘The Girl with All the Gifts’ in which she stars with big screen legend Glenn Close and Paddy Considine.

The former Bond girl admits working with ‘Fatal Attraction’ actress Glenn, 69, was an incredible experience, although somewhat intimidating initially, and the pair developed a friendship on set.

She revealed: "Glenn is such a great woman obviously and I was actually a little intimidated, I’ve been a fan of hers forever. I thought she would be, you know, we see her characters who are quite cold but she’s not like that at all, she’s so warm and lovely and fun, and we got on so well, she’s fantastic."