Rosamund Pike

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Rosamund Pike
Rosamund Pike 2011.jpg
Pike at the premiere of Barney's Version in January 2011
Born Rosamund Mary Elizabeth Pike
(1979-01-27) 27 January 1979 (age 34)
Hammersmith, London, England
Occupation Actress
Years active 1998–present
Partner(s) Robie Uniacke (2009-present); 1 child

Rosamund Mary Elizabeth Pike (born 27 January 1979) is an English actress who first came to international attention when she played Bond girl Miranda Frost in Die Another Day (2002). Since then her film roles have included Jane Bennet in Pride and Prejudice (2005), Nikki Gardner in Fracture (2007), Alex in Fugitive Pieces (2007), Helen in An Education (2009), Miriam Grant-Panofsky in Barney's Version (2010), Lisa Hopkins in Made in Dagenham (2010), Kate Sumner in Johnny English Reborn (2011), Queen Andromeda in Wrath of the Titans (2012) and Helen Rodin in Jack Reacher (2012).

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Early life[edit]

Rosamund Pike was born in Hammersmith, London,[1] the only child of concert musicians/opera singers Caroline (née Friend) and Julian Pike.[2] Pike's father is now a professor of music and head of Operatic Studies at the Birmingham Conservatoire.[3]

The family traveled across Europe until she was seven, following wherever her parents' performing career took them; as a result, she is conversant in French and German.[3] Pike won a scholarship to Badminton School in Bristol,[3] and while appearing 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.[3]

After being turned down by every stage school she applied to, she gained a place to read English Literature at Wadham College, Oxford from which she graduated [3] After taking 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.[4]

Career[edit]

While she was still at university, Pike made appearances on British television shows, including A Rather English Marriage (1998),[5] 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 "Sarah Beaumont" in an episode of the series Foyle's War, during which she was required to smoke a cigarette almost constantly.[6]

Pike at the premiere of Barney's Version during the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival.

After graduating she considered working at Waterstone's bookshop, due to a lack of acting opportunities,[3] 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, which won her the Best Supporting Actress award at the British Independent Film Awards. In the same year, she portrayed Rose in The Promised Land, a film about Israel,[5] and starred as scientist Samantha Grimm in the cinematic adaptation of the computer game series Doom.[7] 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)[8] and Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke, both in London's West End, and Gaslight at London's Old Vic Theatre.[9] Pike has said that she would be happy to do at least one play every year.[10] In 2009, she played the title character in Madame De Sade during the Donmar's West End season.[11]

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.[12] 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.[13] 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 $160m.

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.[14] Taking the role in Wrath of the Titans meant she had to drop out of consideration for a role in the forthcoming Superman film.[15] Although the film was not well received by critics, it grossed over $300m and critics considered her performance to be one of the film's highlights.[16][17] 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 $213m as of 28 February 2013.[18]

Personal life[edit]

While she was at Oxford, Pike had a two-year relationship with gay actor Simon Woods.[19] She was engaged in 2007 to film director Joe Wright,[20] but he called off the wedding in 2008.[19] In May 2012, it was reported that she gave birth to her first child, a son, Solo. The father is Robie Uniacke, whom she has been dating since December 2009.[21]

Pike is a skilled cellist.[3]

Filmography[edit]

Films
Year Title Role Director Notes
2002 Die Another Day Miranda Frost Tamahori, LeeLee Tamahori
2004 Promised Land Rose Gitai, AmosAmos Gitai
2004 The Libertine Elizabeth Malet Dunmore, LaurenceLaurence Dunmore
2005 Pride & Prejudice Jane Bennet Wright, JoeJoe Wright
2005 Doom Samantha Grimm Bartkowiak, AndrzejAndrzej Bartkowiak
2007 Fracture Nikki Gardner Hoblit, GregoryGregory Hoblit
2007 Fugitive Pieces Alex Podeswa, JeremyJeremy Podeswa
2009 Education, AnAn Education Helen Scherfig, LoneLone Scherfig
2009 Surrogates Maggie Greer Mostow, JonathanJonathan Mostow
2010 Burning Palms Dedra Davenport Landon, Christopher B.Christopher B. Landon
2010 Jackboots on Whitehall Daisy McHenry, EdwardEdward McHenry Voice
2010 Barney's Version Miriam Grant-Panofsky Lewis, Richard J.Richard J. Lewis
2010 Made in Dagenham Lisa Hopkins Cole, NigelNigel Cole
2011 The Organ Grinder's Monkey Rochelle Jake Chapman Short film
2011 Johnny English Reborn Kate Sumner Parker, OliverOliver Parker
2011 The Big Year Jessica Frankel, DavidDavid Frankel
2012 Devil You Know Zoe Hughes Oakley, JamesJames Oakley
2012 Wrath of the Titans Queen Andromeda Liebesman, JonathanJonathan Liebesman
2012 Jack Reacher Helen Rodin McQuarrie, ChristopherChristopher McQuarrie
2013 A Long Way Down TBA Chaumeil, PascalPascal Chaumeil Post-production
2013 The World's End TBA Wright, EdgarEdgar Wright Post-production
2014 Hector and the Search for Happiness TBA Joffe, MarkMark Joffe Pre-production
2014 Violet Town TBA Chelsom, PeterPeter Chelsom Pre-production
Television
Year Title Role Director Notes
1998 Rather English Marriage, AA Rather English Marriage Celia Seed, PaulPaul Seed TV movie
1999 Wives and Daughters Lady Harriet Cumnor Renton, NicholasNicholas Rentonj TV mini-series
2000 Trial & Retribution Lucy Whyte, MichaelMichael Whyte Episode: Trial & Retribution IV Part 1
2001 Love in a Cold Climate Fanny Hooper, TomTom Hooper TV mini-series
2002 Foyle's War Sarah Beaumont Silberston, JeremyJeremy Silberston Episode: "The German Woman"
2002 Bond Girls Are Forever Herself John Watkin TV documentary
2008 The Tower Olivia Wynn Guggenheim, DavisDavis Guggenheim TV movie
2009 Freefall Anna Savage, DominicDominic Savage TV movie
2009 Yesterday We Were in America Narrator Christie, MikeMike Christie TV docudrama
2011 Women in Love Gudrun Brangwen Ivory, WilliamWilliam Ivory TV series
Theatre
Year Title Role Director Notes
2002 Hitchcock Blonde The Blonde
2006 Summer and Smoke Alma Winemiller
2010 Hedda Gabler Hedda Gabler

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Rosamund Pike". Retrieved 24 November 2012. 
  2. ^ Cavendish, Lucy (18 March 2009). "Rosamund Pike interview". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved 2010-05-22. 
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Judith Woods (24 September 2010). "Rosamund Pike: From reluctant English rose to Britain's new screen queen". Daily Mail. Retrieved 2010-11-25. 
  4. ^ "The name's Pike, Rosamund Pike". The Guardian. 13 October 2002. Retrieved 2010-11-25. 
  5. ^ a b "Rosamund Pike- Biography". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved 24 November 2012. 
  6. ^ "Rosamund Pike". Foyle's War. Retrieved 10 January 2012. 
  7. ^ Murray, Rebecca. "Interview with Rosamund Pike at the Hollywood Premiere of "Doom"". About.com. Retrieved 24 November 2012. 
  8. ^ Mail on Sunday, 18 October 2009.
  9. ^ Trueman, Matt (4 September 2012). "London's Old Vic challenges celebrities to stage a musical in 24 hours". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 November 2012. 
  10. ^ Bamigboye, Baz (13 September 2007). "Rosamund Pike: A theatre girl at heart". Daily Mail. Retrieved 2009-05-26. 
  11. ^ Jury, Louise (19 August 2008). "The man with the Midas touch". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2009-05-26. 
  12. ^ Bamigboye, Baz (11 September 2009). "With a little luck Keira Knightly will have sharpened up enough for My Fair Lady". Daily Mail. Retrieved 2009-09-18. 
  13. ^ "Rosamund Pike narrates 'The Spy Who Loved Me' for new Ian Fleming audiobooks". mi6.co.uk. 12 January 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2011. 
  14. ^ "Rosamund Pike Joins ‘Wrath of the Titans’ as Andromeda". screenrant.com. 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2012. 
  15. ^ "Rosamund Pike signs up for Wrath Of The Titans, drops out of Superman race". denofgeek.com. 9 February 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2013. 
  16. ^ "Review: 'Wrath Of The Titans' represents a big step forward from the first film". hitfix.com. 28 March 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2013. 
  17. ^ "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. 
  18. ^ "Jack Reacher (2012)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 28 February 2013. 
  19. ^ a b 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). 
  20. ^ Bamigboye, Baz (7 September 2007). "Rosamund Pike gets a ring from Mr Wright". Daily Mail. Retrieved 2009-05-26. 
  21. ^ Nicholl, Kate (6 May 2012). "Baby joy for Bond girl Rosamund Pike as she gives birth to son Solo". Daily Mail. Retrieved 2012-05-14. 

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