Rosamund Pike
Pike appeared in a number of UK television series, including Esposas e hijas (1999), before scoring an auspicious feature film debut as the glacial beauty "Miranda Frost" in the James Bond film, Muere otro día (2002); when the film was released, she was only 23. Though her debut was a big-budget action film, the film work that followed was primarily in smaller, independent films, including Promised land (2004), The libertine(2004), (for which she won the Best Supporting Actress award at The British Independent Film Awards), and Orgullo y prejuicio (2005), as one of the Bennet daughters. A brief foray into Hollywood film followed with the action flick, Doom (2005), and the thriller, Fracture (2007), but she returned to smaller films with exceptional performances in three films: An Education (2009), Pago justo (2010), and the lead opposite Paul Giamatti in El mundo según Barney (2010).
As she continued her stage work in England, Pike appeared in the spy spoof, Johnny English Returns (2011), and inhabited the role of "Andromeda" in the sci-fi epic, Ira de titanes (2012). She returned to action films with the female lead opposite Tom Cruise in Jack Reacher (2012).
Pike entered into a relationship with a mathematical researcher named Robie Uniacke in 2009. She gave birth to their first son, named Solo, in May 2012. She returned to acting and landed the coveted title role in Perdida (2014). The film became a critical and box-office hit, with Pike earning the film's sole Academy Award nomination as Best Actress. She also earned nominations as Best Actress from Screen Actor's Guild, Golden Globes, and BAFTA. She gave birth to her second son with Uniacke in December 2014. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous
Trivia
Plays the piano and cello.
Plays the piano and cello.
Can also speak French and German.
Went to school in Bristol, England, UK.
Graduated with a 2:1 (upper second class degree = 2nd Honors = Magna Cum Laude) in English Literature from Oxford University's Wadham College.
Went to the same school as famous Irish writer Iris Murdoch.
An only child, her parents are Julian and Caroline Pike. Julian is a professional opera singer, whilst Caroline is a concert violinist.
She was friends with Chelsea Clinton while at Wadham College, Oxford. Not only are they both the same height (5' 9"), they are both fluent in German, and they are both only children.
Won the Award for Best Debut at the 2003 Empire Awards for her performance as Miranda Frost in Muere otro día (2002).
The age difference between herself and Halle Berry in Muere otro día (2002) - 12 years and 5 months - is the greatest age difference between two Bond girls in one film since Alison Doody and Grace Jones - a difference of 18 years - in Panorama para matar(1985).
Was engaged to Joe Wright, having met when he directed her on the set of Orgullo y prejuicio (2005), after he proposed to her on Lake Como in Italy (September 2007-June 2008).
Beat out Saffron Burrows, Alicia Silverstone, and Sophie Ellis-Bextor for her role in Muere otro día (2002).
Gave birth to her first child at age 33, a son named Solo Uniacke on 6 May 2012. The child's father is her boyfriend, Robie Uniacke.
Was 5 months pregnant with her son Solo when she completed filming on Jack Reacher(2012).
She got the part in Perdida (2014) beating out Natalie Portman, Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt, Abbie Cornish, Olivia Wilde, Julianne Hough, and the film's producer Reese Witherspoon all of whom either auditioned or were considered for the part.
Turned down the role of Rita Skeeter on Harry Potter y el cáliz de fuego (2005) in order to star in Orgullo y prejuicio (2005). The role went to Miranda Richardson.
She played two different characters in the James Bond franchise: Miranda Frost in Muere otro día (2002) and Pussy Galore in BBC4's 2010 radio adaptation of "Goldfinger".
David Fincher had her undergo a rigorous boxing training with welterweight champion Holly Lawson for her role in Perdida (2014).
Has been in a relationship with Robie Uniacke since December 2009. They have two sons together.
Returned to work 4 months after giving birth to her son Solo to begin filming Bienvenidos al fin del mundo (2013).
Gave birth to her 2nd child at age 35, a son Atom Uniacke at home on December 2, 2014. Child's father is her boyfriend, Robie Uniacke.
She and Halle Berry are the only two actresses to play Bond Girls (who bedded Bond) in the official 007 franchise to receive Oscar nominations: Berry won for her performance in Monster's Ball (2001), while Pike was nominated for her work in Perdida (2014). Kim Basinger, who starred in Nunca digas nunca jamás (1983), also went on to win the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for L.A. Confidential (1997), but her movie is considered non-canon in the 007 franchise. Both Pike and Berry were in the same Bond movie, Muere otro día (2002), and both were nominated in the Best Actress category. Oscar nominee Minnie Driver and Oscar Winner Judi Dench both appeared in the Bond film GoldenEye (1995), but neither played Bond Girls who bedded Bond.
In 2014, the press gave her the moniker "Bond Girl to Gone Girl", because of the similar characters she played in both the James Bond film Muere otro día (2002) and in Perdida(2014).
Johnny Depp is one of her favourite actors. She worked with him on The libertine (2004).
Joe Wright called off their engagement shortly before their wedding. The "save the date" cards were already sent out. [June 2008].
She has said that "China and Chinese culture are very important for my family" and has given herself a Chinese name, Pei Chunhua because she thought the transliteration of her English name is long and not very feminine. She explained she chose the Chinese name because Pei is a traditional Chinese last name, Chun represents the idea of pure and honesty, a characteristic she'd like to embody, and Hua has the same sound as the character meaning flower, as Rosamund means rose of the world.
Returned to work 10 months after giving birth to her son Atom to begin filming A United Kingdom.
Auditioned for the role of Danielle in El ladrón de palabras (2012) that went to Olivia Wilde.
Was considered to star as Grace Kelly in Grace de Mónaco (2014).
Turned down the role of Jess Barrett in Focus (2015) that went to Margot Robbie.
Was considered for either Emma Frost or Moira McTaggart in X-Men: Primera generación(2011).
Personal Quotes
Filming Orgullo y prejuicio (2005) was a joy and made for one of my happiest summers ever. "It could well be that the story brings out the best in people - and it sounds so cheesy, but we really did behave like a family. The girls playing the younger sisters had never been on a film set before and wanted to socialize all the time, so we picnicked, hung out in a beautiful country house and went swimming naked in a lake. It was idyllic.
Filming Orgullo y prejuicio (2005) was a joy and made for one of my happiest summers ever. "It could well be that the story brings out the best in people - and it sounds so cheesy, but we really did behave like a family. The girls playing the younger sisters had never been on a film set before and wanted to socialize all the time, so we picnicked, hung out in a beautiful country house and went swimming naked in a lake. It was idyllic.
I don't think RADA wanted me, actually. When I was at Oxford I had a boyfriend at Central [School of Speech and Drama] and it looked like the most fantastic life, but I think not going makes you more free. Nothing can teach you what it's like to work on a film set, and the best education there can be for an actor is to walk up the street and observe human nature.
When you're dressed up like Miranda Frost [from Muere otro día (2002)], people assume you have a similar character, but I was 21 and quaking inside.
I think you can make a choice with that kind of thing. You can certainly keep a low public profile if you want to. Ideally, I'd like to be living in upstate New York, in a house that I could renovate and fill with books and clothes, while being offered the kind of parts that are currently going to Kate Winslet and Nicole Kidman.
I think it's OK to play to your strengths, and if I have a quality of Englishness that people like, I won't hide that. I'm probably not going to play a junkie and that's OK because there are other people who will do it better. A view that's been held for a long time is that the best way to prove oneself as an actor is to play the grittiest roles out there. I don't agree with that.
I'd love to say I was the kind of person who has an outline. But the only outline I have is that I want to carry on doing this all my life.
[on the direction from Joe Wright in Orgullo y prejuicio (2005)] You can get quite self-conscious at times, there's this business of your close-up coming up but, in that big ball scene, he put three cameras on it. And in lots of the dinner scenes too, so you wouldn't actually know when your moment was coming. That's why it's got that lovely unaware quality to it, you really did feel it's being observed. I think it's because people didn't know they were being watched really, that's what you get, this window on life.
Daniel Day-Lewis in En el nombre del padre (1993) was the first performance that made me think about how incredible acting is. It made me realise the power of film and that this medium could have a physical reaction on me and I hadn't really experienced that before. I come from a theatrical family and grew up around stage, so film-going was not really part of my life. But I remember going to see this film and being riveted by the story and the performances. I found it sexy and believable; it took me into another world. I was in floods of tears at the end of it.
[on writer-director Christopher McQuarrie's film, Jack Reacher (2012)] He is such a great writer, he manages to give you all the satisfaction of a love affair without [the characters] ever actually touched. In a way, I started to think that maybe sex scenes are what people put on when there isn't any chemistry.
[on Johnny Depp] He's so brilliant to work with, so exciting, you believe in him so much as a character. It made my job very easy. He's like the coolest kid in school. You want to be in his gang. His whole lifestyle is kind of wonderful. He travels with this big group of people. He's like a gypsy. His caravan is always filled with his friends, playing guitar and painting. You want to be in the band. The guys who look after the trailers were like, 'How do we clean in there?' because he covered it with drapes and candles, just covered every available surface.
[on Johnny Depp] -- He is the most amazing actor I've ever worked with. I felt very, very free with him. We had some very traumatic, violent scenes in which the director wanted us to push everything to the limit. I felt sick with worry the morning of shooting. I guess I drew on all the experiences of love I'd ever had. There were no rehearsals. It was very exciting.
[on David Graham] He's so charming. I love working with him. The bond between Parker and Penelope - plus the humour that is batted between them - is really fun to play. David is a gentleman and I am extremely fond of him.
[on David Fincher's suggestion that she use Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy as a model for Amy Dunne in Perdida (2014)] I ordered old copies of the Vanity Fair in which she appeared on the cover. I scoured the internet for any footage of her or, even better, any interviews or recordings which captured her voice. And I realized that David had basically given me a cipher to study. There are countless photographs of Bessette: gorgeous portraits in Vanity Fair; vibrant, intimate photographs taken of Bessette and Kennedy engrossed in each other at parties; shots of her walking the New York streets, wrapping herself in cashmere as protection against the cold and probably photographers, head down, her long blond hair shielding her face from full view. There are even a fair few shots of her and Kennedy clearly in the midst of blistering rows in Central Park, in the street, but I could find nothing of her in her own words. And I thought, Well, maybe that's fine. Amy, as she wants to be seen, should be created from outside in. I tried to find a way to own that body language, the self-protective seductiveness, head down, hair falling....I couldn't really read her face, and so I tried to use that quality. You meet Amy, she smiles, but her eyes are always scanning you, assessing, seeing if you can play the game, surprised and pleased when you score a point, feeling that you might after all be worthwhile. It is not a relaxing way to live.
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