Rosamund Pike

Rosamund Pike

Pike in 2011
Born Rosamund Mary Ellen Pike
(1979-01-27) 27 January 1979
Hammersmith, London, England
Alma mater Wadham College, Oxford
Occupation Actress
Years active 1998–present
Partner(s) Robie Uniacke (2009–present)
Children 2

Rosamund Mary Ellen Pike[1][2] (born 27 January 1979) is an English actress. She began her acting career by appearing in stage productions such as Romeo and Juliet and Skylight. She made her screen debut in the television film A Rather English Marriage (1998), followed by television roles in Wives and Daughters (1999) and Love in a Cold Climate (2001). She received international recognition for her film debut as Bond girl Miranda Frost in Die Another Day (2002), for which she received the Empire Award for Best Newcomer. Following her breakthrough, she won the BIFA Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Libertine (2004) and portrayed Jane Bennett in Pride and Prejudice (2005).

Pike had film appearances in the sci-fi film Doom (2005), the crime-mystery thriller film Fracture (2007), the drama film Fugitive Pieces (2007), and the coming-of-age drama An Education (2009), for which she was nominated for the London Film Critics Circle Award for British Supporting Actress of the Year. She also received British Independent Film Award nominations for An Education, Made in Dagenham (2010), and was nominated for a Genie Award for Barney's Version (2010).

In 2014, her performance in the psychological thriller film Gone Girl was met with critical acclaim and she was awarded the Saturn Award for Best Actress and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama.

Early life

Pike was born in Hammersmith, London, the only child of opera singers Caroline (née Friend) and Julian Pike.[3] Pike's father is currently a professor of music and head of operatic studies at the Birmingham Conservatoire.[4]

The family travelled across Europe until she was seven, following wherever her parents' performing careers took them.[4] Pike won a scholarship to Badminton School in Bristol,[4] and while appearing as Juliet in a production of Romeo and Juliet at the National Youth Theatre, was noticed by an agent, who helped her embark upon a professional career.[4]

After being turned down by every stage school to which she applied, she gained a place to read English literature at Wadham College, Oxford, from which she graduated.[4] She took a year off to pursue her acting career, garnering stage experience in David Hare's Skylight, Arthur Miller's All My Sons, and several plays by Shakespeare; she achieved an Upper Second class degree in 2001.[5]

Career

While she was still at Oxford, Pike acted in and directed various plays, including one by Simon Chesterman, who was then a graduate student.[6] She also made appearances on British television shows, including A Rather English Marriage (1998),[7] Wives and Daughters (1999), and Love in a Cold Climate (2001), a miniseries based on Nancy Mitford's novels The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate. She also appeared as a CIA agent in the pilot of the science fiction series, Seven Days (1998), and as Sarah Beaumont in an episode of the series Foyle's War.

After graduating, she considered working at Waterstone's bookshop due to a lack of acting opportunities,[4] but was offered a role as a Bond girl and MI6 agent assigned to aid James Bond in Die Another Day. She also appeared in the special show Bond Girls Are Forever and, shortly afterwards, the BAFTA tribute to the James Bond series. Pike then played Elizabeth Malet in The Libertine (2004), co-starring Johnny Depp,[8] which won her the Best Supporting Actress award at the British Independent Film Awards.[9] In the same year, she portrayed Rose in The Promised Land, a film about Israel,[7] and starred as scientist Samantha Grimm in the cinematic adaptation of the computer game series Doom.[10] In 2005, she appeared as Jane, the elder sister of Elizabeth (played by Keira Knightley), in Pride & Prejudice. Pike then starred in the film adaptation of Anne Michaels's novel Fugitive Pieces. She also starred as a successful attorney in the film Fracture, opposite Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling.

Her stage credits include Hitchcock Blonde by Terry Johnson (in a role requiring her to appear completely nude on stage with only a pair of high heels)[11] and Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke, both in London's West End, and Gaslight at London's Old Vic Theatre.[12] Pike has said that she would be happy to do at least one play every year.[13] In 2009, she played the title character in Madame De Sade during the Donmar's West End season.[14]

She appeared in the British film Made in Dagenham and in the Canadian film Barney's Version where she plays Miriam. In 2010, she starred in a production of Hedda Gabler on UK tour.[15] Pike has recorded voicework for a lead role in the film Jackboots on Whitehall and lent her voice to a new series of James Bond audio-books, narrating The Spy Who Loved Me.[16] In 2010 Pike played the part of Pussy Galore in the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Fleming's Goldfinger. In 2011, Pike played the part of Kate Sumner in the 2011 Bond spoof film Johnny English Reborn, playing a psychologist and English's love interest. The film is a sequel to the 2003 film Johnny English and was a box office success, taking over $160 million.

In 2012, she played the role of Queen Andromeda in the fantasy epic Wrath of the Titans. She replaced Alexa Davalos, who had played the role in Clash of the Titans and had dropped out due to a scheduling conflict.[17] Taking the role in Wrath of the Titans meant she had to drop out of consideration for a role in the forthcoming Superman film.[18] Although the film was not well received by critics, it grossed over $300 million and critics considered her performance to be one of the film's highlights.[19][20] She also starred as Helen Rodin, the female lead alongside Tom Cruise in the thriller Jack Reacher, an adaptation of the novel One Shot by author Lee Child. The film opened to positive critical reception and had grossed over $218 million.[21]

After a supporting role in the critically acclaimed The World's End (2013), Pike was seen in the David Fincher-directed thriller Gone Girl (2014), a film adaptation of Gillian Flynn's novel of the same name.[22] Featuring opposite Ben Affleck, Pike was cast as Amy Dunne, a woman who goes missing on her fifth wedding anniversary. According to Fincher, Pike was his first choice for the role because he wanted someone who was not widely known, Pike having not appeared in any major leading role prior to the film's commencement, and because he found her enigmatic and couldn't easily read her.[23][24] The film emerged as a box office hit, earning over $356 million in global ticket sales.[25] The movie and Pike's performance both earned widespread acclaim from critics.[26] Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair wrote that the film is "Smartly shot, detailed ... and performed" and called Pike's portrayal "a star-makingly good performance, spellbinding in its operatic mix of tones and temperatures."[27] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter reviewed that she "is powerful and commanding ... Physically and emotionally, Pike looks to have immersed herself in this profoundly calculating character, and the results are impressive." She received numerous awards and nominations, including for the Academy Award for Best Actress, the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role.

Since 2015, she has voiced Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward in the remake of Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds Are Go produced by ITV in conjunction with Weta Workshop. In February 2016, she starred in the music video for Voodoo in My Blood by Massive Attack directly inspired by the subway scene with Isabelle Adjani in the movie Possession (1981) directed by Andrzej Żuławski.[28]

Personal life

While at Oxford, Pike was in a relationship with fellow student and actor Simon Woods that lasted two years.[29] Despite the break-up, the two later played lovers Jane Bennet and Charles Bingley in Pride & Prejudice. In 2007, Pike was engaged to film director Joe Wright,[30] but he called off the wedding in 2008.[29] Since December 2009, she has been in a relationship with Robie Uniacke, a mathematical researcher.[31] They have two sons, Solo (born 2012)[32] and Atom (born 2014).[33][34]

Activism

In 2015 she signed an open letter which the ONE Campaign had been collecting signatures for; the letter was addressed to Angela Merkel and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, urging them to focus on women as they serve as the head of the G7 in Germany and the AU in South Africa respectively, which will start to set the priorities in development funding before a main UN summit in September 2015 that will establish new development goals for the generation.[35]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2002 Die Another Day Miranda Frost
2004 Promised Land Rose
2004 The Libertine Elizabeth Malet
2005 Pride & Prejudice Jane Bennet
2005 Doom Dr. Samantha Grimm
2007 Fracture Nikki Gardner
2007 Fugitive Pieces Alex
2009 Education, AnAn Education Helen
2009 Surrogates Maggie Greer
2009 Yesterday We Were in America Narrator Documentary
2010 Burning Palms Dedra Davenport
2010 Jackboots on Whitehall Daisy Voice role
2010 Barney's Version Miriam Grant-Panofsky
2010 Made in Dagenham Lisa Hopkins
2011 The Organ Grinder's Monkey Rochelle Short film
2011 Johnny English Reborn Kate Sumner
2011 The Big Year Jessica
2012 Wrath of the Titans Queen Andromeda
2012 Jack Reacher Helen Rodin
2013 The Devil You Know Zoe Hughes Shot in late 2005
2013 The World's End Sam Chamberlain
2014 A Long Way Down Penny
2014 Hector and the Search for Happiness Clara
2014 What We Did on Our Holiday Abi
2014 Gone Girl Amy Elliott Dunne Academy Award for Best Actress nomination
2015 Return to Sender Miranda Wells
2016 A United Kingdom Ruth Williams Khama In post-production
2016 HHhH Lina Heydrich In post-production

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1998 Seven Days CIA Agent Pilot
1998 Rather English Marriage, AA Rather English Marriage Celia Movie
1999 Wives and Daughters Lady Harriet Cumnor 3 episodes
2000 Trial & Retribution Lucy Episode: "Trial & Retribution IV Part 1"
2001 Love in a Cold Climate Fanny 2 episodes
2002 Bond Girls Are Forever Herself Documentary
2002 Foyle's War Sarah Beaumont Episode: "The German Woman"
2008 The Tower Olivia Wynn Pilot
2009 Freefall Anna Movie
2011 Women in Love Gudrun Brangwen 2 episodes
2015 Thunderbirds Are Go Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward[36] Voice role, 13 episodes

Stage

Year Title Role
2002 Hitchcock Blonde The Blonde
2006 Summer and Smoke Alma Winemiller
2007 Gaslight Bella Manningham
2009 Madame de Sade Madame de Sade
2010 Hedda Gabler Hedda Gabler

Awards and nominations

Year Nominated work Association Category Result
2003 Die Another Day Empire Awards Best Newcomer Won
MTV Movie Awards Best Trans-Atlantic Performance Nominated
2005 The Libertine British Independent Film Awards Best Supporting Actress Won
2006 Pride & Prejudice London Film Critics Circle British Supporting Actress of the Year Nominated
2009 Fugitive Pieces Genie Awards Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Nominated
An Education British Independent Film Awards Best Supporting Actress Nominated
2010 An Education London Film Critics Circle British Supporting Actress of the Year Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated
Made in Dagenham British Independent Film Awards Best Supporting Actress Nominated
2011 Made in Dagenham London Film Critics Circle British Supporting Actress of the Year Nominated
Barney's Version London Film Critics Circle British Actress of the Year Nominated
Satellite Awards Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture Nominated
Genie Awards Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Nominated
2014 Gone Girl Austin Film Critics Association Best Actress Won
Denver Film Critics Society Best Actress Won
Detroit Film Critics Society Best Actress Won
Empire Awards Best Actress Won
Florida Film Critics Circle Best Actress Won
London Film Critics Circle British Actress of the Year Won
Online Film Critics Society Best Actress Won
Sant Jordi Awards Best Foreign Actress Won
Saturn Awards Best Actress Won
St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Best Actress Won
AACTA International Awards Best Actress Nominated
Academy Awards Best Actress Nominated
BAFTA Best Actress in a Leading Role Nominated
Chicago Film Critics Association Best Actress Nominated
Critics' Choice Movie Awards Best Actress Nominated
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Best Actress Nominated
Golden Globe Awards Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama Nominated
MTV Movie Awards Breakthrough Performance Nominated
MTV Movie Awards Best Scared-As-S**t Performance Nominated
MTV Movie Awards Best Villain Nominated
San Diego Film Critics Society Best Actress Nominated
Satellite Awards Best Actress – Motion Picture Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role Nominated
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Best Actress Nominated
What We Did on Our Holiday London Film Critics Circle British Actress of the Year Won

References

  1. Rosamund Mary E Pike. England and Wales Birth Registration Index 1837–2008, FamilySearch. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  2. Talk:Rosamund Pike#Second middle name
  3. Cavendish, Lucy (18 March 2009). "Rosamund Pike interview". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Judith Woods (24 September 2010). "Rosamund Pike: From reluctant English rose to Britain's new screen queen". Daily Mail. Retrieved 25 November 2010.
  5. "The name's Pike, Rosamund Pike". The Guardian. 13 October 2002. Retrieved 25 November 2010.
  6. Review of "Everything Before the 'But' Is a Lie" in the "Daily Info, Oxford".
  7. 1 2 "Rosamund Pike- Biography". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
  8. Weitzman, Elizabeth (9 March 2006). "Actress Pike knows how to take her roles to extremes". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Google News Archive). Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  9. "2005 Winners announced 8th British Independent Film Awards". British Independent Film Awards. 30 November 2005. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  10. Murray, Rebecca. "Interview with Rosamund Pike at the Hollywood Premiere of "Doom"". About.com. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
  11. Mail on Sunday, 18 October 2009.
  12. Trueman, Matt (4 September 2012). "London's Old Vic challenges celebrities to stage a musical in 24 hours". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
  13. Bamigboye, Baz (13 September 2007). "Rosamund Pike: A theatre girl at heart". Daily Mail. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
  14. Jury, Louise (19 August 2008). "The man with the Midas touch". Evening Standard. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
  15. Bamigboye, Baz (11 September 2009). "With a little luck Keira Knightly will have sharpened up enough for My Fair Lady". Daily Mail. Retrieved 18 September 2009.
  16. "Rosamund Pike narrates 'The Spy Who Loved Me' for new Ian Fleming audiobooks". mi6.co.uk. 12 January 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
  17. "Rosamund Pike Joins 'Wrath of the Titans' as Andromeda". screenrant.com. 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
  18. "Rosamund Pike signs up for Wrath of the Titans, drops out of Superman race". denofgeek.com. 9 February 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  19. "Review: 'Wrath Of The Titans' represents a big step forward from the first film". hitfix.com. 28 March 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  20. "Even a Cyclops could see this is bad: Wrath of the Titans is titanically awful". The Daily Mail. 29 March 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  21. "Jack Reacher (2012)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
  22. "'Gone Girl' starts filming in Cape Girardeau". kfvs12.com. 12 September 2013. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  23. Mottram, James (30 September 2014). "Gone Girl film director David Fincher on his potential Oscar contender". The Independent. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
  24. "David Fincher: A Life in Pictures". BAFTA Guru. 19 September 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  25. "Gone Girl (2014)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
  26. "GONE GIRL (2014)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
  27. Lawson, Richard (1 October 2014). "Gone Girl, Fall’s Most Anticipated Thriller, Doesn’t Disappoint". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
  28. "Massive Attack Recruit Rosamund Pike for Haunting New Video". Rolling Stone. 23 February 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  29. 1 2 Barber, Lynn (24 May 2009). "I don't sleep around, if that's what you mean ... Would you like some more cake?". The Guardian (London).
  30. Bamigboye, Baz (7 September 2007). "Rosamund Pike gets a ring from Mr Wright". Daily Mail. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
  31. Sawer, Patrick (20 September 2014). "Rosamund Pike: How my ex-addict lover (age 53) gave me new lease of life". The Telegraph. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  32. Nicholl, Kate (6 May 2012). "Baby joy for Bond girl Rosamund Pike as she gives birth to son Solo". Daily Mail. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  33. "Rosamund Pike Welcomes a Son". People. 4 December 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  34. Colette Fahy (12 February 2015). "'I was just sitting there butt naked!' Rosamund Pike reveals she stripped off to breastfeed son Atom backstage at BAFTAs". dailymail.com. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  35. Tracy McVeigh. "Poverty is sexist: leading women sign up for global equality | Life and style". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  36. "Parker actor back for Thunderbirds remake". BBC News. Retrieved 1 October 2013.

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