Gemma Arterton ready to start a family with 'really brilliant partner'

Former Bond girl Gemma Arterton is on the hunt for a "really brilliant partner'' so she can start a family.

The actress, who is currently single, is desperate to have children, but after ending her marriage to Stefano Catelli and breaking off her romance with French filmmaker Franklin Ohanessian, she's looking for a special new guy.

''I absolutely want to have children," she tells ES magazine. "I think the only way you can is if you have a really brilliant partner.''

And she has the ideal guy in mind - Bridge of Spies star Mark Rylance.

''I see a therapist, who said, "You know, there are people out there that are like Mark Rylance'. If only everyone was like Mark Rylance."

Gemma ended her five year marriage with Catelli in 2010 and insists she no longer thinks it's important to have a husband to start a family.

"I don't really know my feelings on marriage any more," she says. "It wasn't even really important to me when I did it. I was young and just thought, 'Yeah, let's do it'."

And she won't be a stay-at-home mom when she does start a family, insisting the idea of a woman having to sacrifice her career for motherhood is outdated.

''I don't think the word sacrifice should come into the equation," Arterton adds. "Men don't feel like they are making sacrifices when they work hard and don't see their kids enough!"

But before Gemma can start getting broody, there's a sexy new movie role she has to prepare for - as fellow Bond femme fatale Eva Green's lesbian lover in a new film about late author Virginia Woolf.

Vita & Virginia will center on Woolf's relationship and love affair with fellow writer Vita Sackville-West. Green will portray Woolf and Arterton will play West.

Green and Arterton played Bond girls Vesper Lynd and Strawberry Fields in back to back 007 movies Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace.