Baftas 2018: Gemma Arterton Attends With 'Original Dagenham Girls' Gwen Davis And Eileen Pullen

Gemma Arterton attended the Baftas with two very special guests on Sunday (18 February) night, arriving with Gwen Davis and Eileen Pullen. 

The two women were part of the group who fought for equal pay at the Ford’s Dagenham factory back in 1968 and their story has special significance for Gemma, who went on to star in the stage musical about their fight. 

The actress introduced Gwen and Eileen during an interview with Edith Bowman on the red carpet. 

“They’re amazing because they really started the equal pay movement in the UK and got us the Equal Pay Act of 1970,” she said. “It was really brave, what they did. It wasn’t easy, was it?”

The women, who are now in their eighties also heaped praise on Gemma and her fellow actresses, for launching and supporting the Time’s Up movement. 

“We were always treated like nobody and why should we be?” Gwen said, with Eileen adding: “Women have got to speak up for their rights, haven’t they?”

A number of other A-listers arrived at the awards with activists as their plus ones, with Gemma Chan hitting the red carpet alongside Everyday Sexism founder, Laura Bates.  

EE Rising Star nominee Tessa Thompson then arrived with Marai Larasi, activist and Executive Director of Imkaan, a black feminist organisation dedicated to addressing violence against women and girls. 

Ahead of the event, Marai tweeted her excitement at attending and Tessa was equally delighted to be bringing her along: 

Andrea Riseborough, who starred in ‘Battle Of The Sexes’ alongside Emma Stone last year, attended with Time’s Up activist Phyll Opoku-Gyimah.

Back in January, actresses including Meryl Streep, Emma Watson and Michelle Williams attended the Golden Globes alongside activists. 

As with Sunday’s Baftas, the Globes also saw stars in attendance wearing black to highlight the Time’s Up movement.