Gemma Arterton was worried her young son didn't recognise her when she was filming the second series of 'Funny Woman'

Speaking to OK! magazine, she said: "So he was with me. I dyed my hair blonde this season and it sounds ridiculous, but I was convinced he didn't recognise me!

"He'd see me for an hour or something a day, I'd be dressed as Sophie and I just don't look like myself when I'm playing her - with the costumes and the hair and make up - so I was convinced he didn't know I was his mum. I found that quite hard.

"The good thing about this job is that it's intense when you're filming for three or four months, but then you might have months off where you can just be with your child. It was hard not to be with him but its ok. He's forgiven me. He recognises me."

Discussing the trajectory of her acting career, Gemma previously revealed she was told to drop her hometown accent or she would spend the rest of her career playing "maids".

The former Bond girl - who grew up in a working class family in Gravesend, Kent, South East England - studied acting at London's prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and her teachers warned her to improve her elocution and lose her Kent brogue because it could have a negative impact on her prospects.

Speaking to The Guardian newspaper, she explained: "[My accent] was associated with people from less affluent backgrounds. It's different now at drama school but in my day, we were told to lose the accent or you'd only play maids or whatever. It's a shame because I did have a strong working-class estuary accent. I feel a bit sad that it's gone."

However, Gemma admits her Kent accent does return after she's enjoyed some alcoholic refreshments or when she's spending time with her family.

She shared: "Yes [it comes out after a few drinks]! Or around my family. If I'm on the phone to my dad, my husband says my accent really changes."