Gemma Arterton, 36, plays a ’60s Blackpool beauty queen seeking fame as a TV comedian

What appealed to you about this show?

I read the book when it first came out [ Funny Woman is based on Nick Hornby’s bestselling novel, Funny Girl]. Barbara is such a great character – I could hear her voice in my head, I’m quite like her... The ’60s was such an iconic time for comedy, and quite extraordinary for women to make it. Years later, I got sent the pilot episode and it was amazing. The writing was bang on and it felt quite serendipitous. Tell us about Barbara…

She’s a girl from Blackpool, her mum disappeared when she was young, and her dad always filmed her goofing around, which is where she gets her love of comedy from. She wants more from life than just being a beauty queen and working in a rock shop, so she goes to London and auditions for a Comedy Playhouse. From there, it’s the journey of her becoming a sitcom star and finding her voice. How did you master the accent?

My best mate is from Blackpool! I also worked with a voice coach and listened religiously to a recording of women from the area, chatting about random stuff. We filmed in Liverpool, Manchester, and a little bit in Blackpool. They’re so close to each other but the accents vary so much…

What about getting into character?

There was a lot of stuff I wanted to bring to it, like physical comedy, which is a real passion of mine. Sometimes you get characters that you have an affinity with, and Barbara was one of them. She’s quite silly – a real clown, but a working-class girl. It didn’t feel like a massive stretch – she is someone I’ve always wanted to play and there’s a lot of stuff in there that I got to let out.

You’re an executive producer on this too…

I love the fact that I had a say over all of the casting and creative choices and costume design etc… Everything was so carefully done. It was a satisfying process, though when it came to shooting there was no way I could think about the job at hand, so I stepped back and let everyone else take the reins. Was anything particularly challenging?

Doing the “show in the show” – in front of a live audience. It was so cool, but there were nerves. Did we stick to the script?

There were moments when we improvised bits and bobs…

Why should we be tuning in?

It’s for everyone. It’s fun, moving, cutting edge, and surprising.

The audience is just going to love her.