British actress-producer Gemma Arterton, who essays the character of Polly, the nanny of Harris Dickinson's Conradin the recently released spy action comedy 'The King's Man', describes her character as an alpha that heads the household.Talking about her character, the actress says, "She is Conrad's nanny, so she's taken care of him. But she's sort of the boss of everyone, including Oxford. She's very tough. She doesn't take any crap. She's the cleverest person in the room. She's very, very smart. But also very funny. A wise-cracker."She continues, "And because she's a servant and part of the staff, she is from a different social background. She's working class. So she isn't posh. There are a lot of gentlemen in the film, and high society, and she's a bit more practical."
Commenting on her preparations, Arterton decided that the character should hail from the North of England. "We decided that Harrogate was the perfect accent, because it's a soft Yorkshire accent, but it's quite muscular."She adds, "We wanted it to sound like a period of the time, but I like it because it gives her a bit of sass. She sounds different to everybody else in the film. A little bit cheeky. A bit sassy."Producer Karl Gajdusek refers to her as a "crackshot nanny," explaining, "She's one thing in front of the world and another thing behind closed doors, or with a gun in her hand."Matthew Vaughn, director of the movie adds, "Gemma is an incredible actor. She's funny, she can do any accent, she's good at action. She's the whole package. So we were extremely lucky that she said yes to this."