Bond Girl to Gone Girl: Rosamund Pike admits she'd NEVER seen a 007 film before landing key role... as she prepares to show off her 'dark side' in forthcoming thriller
She admits she has a lot to prove after taking on her darkest, and perhaps most significant role to date, but Rosamund Pike admits her career beginnings in James Bond film Die Another Day was equally daunting - because she knew nothing of the franchise.
The 35-year-old made her cinematic debut playing Miranda Frost in the 2002 movie; the twentieth in the long running series and the last to feature fifth 007 incarnate Pierce Brosnan.
Speaking to W magazine, London born Rosamund says she was completely in the dark about what being a Bond girl entailed before landing the coveted, career-changing role.
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Plenty to prove: Actress Rosamund Pike admits she faces a challenge in proving to the world she can be as dark as director thinks she is in forthcoming film Gone Girl
‘Before I was cast as a Bond girl, I had never actually seen a James Bond movie,’ she said. ‘The Bond audition was strange—I’d just come back from China, doing the kind of hippie-backpacking thing that people do when they leave school.
‘All the girls in this beautiful old town house waiting to see the casting director were sleek and dressed in what seemed to me like leather. I was wearing something very thick and woolly. I was convinced I was all wrong.’
Despite her initial apprehension Rosamund, an accomplished cellist, won producers over during her first audition – she drew a blank when considering what MI6 double agent Miranda would wear.
Sitting pretty: David Fincher cast Rosamund because he wanted a less recognized actress to play Amy Elliot Dunne in the forthcoming film
Plenty to say: Rosamund admits she jumped for joy after landing a key role in Fincher's new film
‘My idea of a dress was an operatic concert gown,’ she recalled. ‘I quite proudly took the dress out at the second audition, and they all tried very hard not to laugh.
‘They politely told me that in James Bond films, the women tended to look sort of slinky.’
The actress went on to feature alongside Brosnan, Oscar-winner Halle Berry and Dame Judi Dench in film, which earned her a first significant accolade – the Empire Award for Best Newcomer.
But while Rosamund admits the sudden transition from unknown actress to internationally recognised star was overwhelming.
‘The Bond film was like an ejector seat from normality into a crazy circus world,’ she said. ‘It was trial by fire. I was 21, and I was made to look far more sophisticated than I felt. Instantly, I had to come to terms with myself as a woman and also as an object.
‘I was looking at myself from the outside for the first time. That awareness, for any girl, is both horrible and fascinating.’
Launchpad: Rosamund shot to fame after playing MI6 double-agent Miranda Frost alongside former Bond Pierce Brosnan in Die Another Day
Roles in big budget studio movies Jack Reacher and Wrath Of The Titans have helped broaden her appeal with American audiences, but it is her forthcoming portrayal of Amy Elliot Dunne in director David Fincher’s adaptation of Gone Girl, the bestselling novel by Gillian Flynn, that could cement her international status.
The film, released on October 3, will give Rosamund the opportunity to play darker roles than before, and she admits that unlike her Bond audition, she’s ready to impress Fincher, co-star Ben Affleck and the general public.
‘I do remember saying to David, ‘I know you know I have this character in me; you zeroed in on me for good reason,’’ she recalled.
‘With David Fincher, it’s like being X-rayed—he sees things that you may not want anyone to see. Now I have to prove him right—I have to show the world that I’m as dark as he thinks I am.’
Read the full interview in the May issue of W magazine.
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