Who Is 'Gone Girl' Star Rosamund Pike?
Rosamund Pike, the star of the highly anticipated film, Gone Girl, is about to get a lot of attention for her standout role as Amy Elliott Dunne, a disillusioned housewife who suddenly disappears on her fifth wedding anniversary. The part is one intense (and showy) role, and will surely stick with audiences well after the end credits stop rolling.
With all the buzz coming her way, it’s a good time to get to know the 35-year-old English actress making a big splash Stateside.
She’s a Bond Girl
While this is definitely her biggest role, it’s hardly her first. The actress’ first big screen part was Miranda Frost, a villainous Bond Girl in Pierce Brosnan’s final James Bond film Die Another Day. She was the 68th actress to be featured as a woman who finds herself entangled with the famed British spy.
And She Can Act
She followed the splashy role with parts in more serious films, including An Education, Fracture with Ryan Gosling and Anthony Hopkins, and Joe Wright’s Pride & Prejudice. During that time she also picked up a British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Libertine, co-starring Johnny Depp.
She Modeled Amy After Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy
The role of Amy Elliott Dunne is a tricky one. It’s equal parts the perfectly charming and beautiful Stepford wife and conniving manipulator. For inspiration, Pike turned to John F. Kennedy, Jr.’s stoic yet picture perfect wife. While there was nothing deceitful about Bessette-Kennedy, she did maintain a distance at times that made her more alluring. "There’s not much out there about her. You never heard her speak," Pike tells Entertainment Weekly. "You just see those pictures of her hiding her face. The way she moved—I used quite a lot of that body language and mood."
She’s a Household Name — In England
As a testament to her strong line of work, the actress is quite popular in her home country of England. It’s only on this side of the pond that she’s relatively unknown and according to EW, she’d like to keep it that way — at least for now. “American audiences will likely have no preconceived notions of what she may or may not be capable of,” writes Chris Lee. She certainly has the element of surprise when it comes to the movie — but we’ve spoiled that for you.
This Is Not the Last You’ll See of Her
Aside from Gone Girl, which opens nationwide on Oct. 3, Pike can be seen in the 2014 BBC comedy, What We Did on Our Holiday, with Billy Connolly and Doctor Who's David Tennant. She also teamed up with her The World’s End co-star Simon Pegg for this year's rom-com, Hector and the Search for Happiness. Trust us when we say these films will show a much lighter side of her.
Gone Girl is in theaters on October 3. Hear what Pike's co-star Carrie Coon has to say about her performance.
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[Photos: Focus Features, Getty, MGM, Twentieth Century Fox]