[attach id=472642 size="medium"]Gemma Arterton will appear in Nell Gwynn which enjoyed a sell-out run at Shakespeare's Globe. Photo: PA[/attach]

Gemma Arterton is returning to the West End in a starring role.

The former Bond girl will appear in a play called Nell Gwynn which enjoyed a sell-out run at Shakespeare’s Globe.

Arterton, 29, who recently starred as Rita O’Grady in Made in Dagenham in the West End, will play the cheeky, charming and clever Nell - one of the first and most acclaimed women to appear on the London stage.

The play, by Jessica Swale, charts the rise of an unlikely heroine, to her success as Britain’s most celebrated actress, and her hard-won place in the heart of the king.

It is set in 1660, and in Drury Lane a young Nell Gwynn is selling oranges for sixpence, but little does she know who is watching.

Arterton is no stranger to treading the boards and has appeared in The Duchess of Malfi, The Little Dog Laughed, The Master Builder and Love’s Labour’s Lost.

Nell Gwynn is transferring to the West End for a limited season at the Apollo Theatre in February.