Freak child Gemma Arterton

Jan 7, 2010, 6:03 GMT

Gemma Arterton was a "freaky baby".

The British actress - who is currently starring in London play 'The Little Dog Laughed' - finds the obsession with body image over performing quite troubling, because that's not what acting should be about.

The 23-year-old star said: "I was born with two extra fingers. There were no bones in them, just the fingers and the fingernails. And I've got a crumpled ear. I was a freakish baby. A bit of an oddball. And I still feel like that now."

The 'Quantum of Solace' star said it was only after graduating from prestigious drama school RADA (Royal Academy for Dramatic Arts) that she realised how unnecessarily stressed she was becoming about how she looked.

She said in an interview with The Times newspaper: "On one of the movies, I'd just done this big comedy scene, and all they said was, 'You need to work on your arms!'

"And I said, 'What about the acting?' And they said, 'Don't worry about the acting, worry about your arms!' I just wanted to say, 'Screw you all! I'd rather do a play!' "