Rosamund Pike

British actress (born 1979) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rosamund Pike

Rosamund Mary Ellen Pike[2] (born 1979[a]) is an English actress and producer. Known for her portrayals of morally ambiguous women in psychological thrillers and dramas, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for an Academy Award and two BAFTA Awards.

Quick Facts Born, Alma mater ...
Rosamund Pike
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Pike in 2018
Born
Rosamund Mary Ellen Pike

1979 (age 4546)[a]
Hammersmith, London, England
Alma materWadham College, Oxford
Occupation(s)Actress, producer
Years active1998–present
PartnerRobie Uniacke (2009–present)
Children2
AwardsFull list
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Pike studied at Wadham College, Oxford, and appeared in stage productions, including Romeo and Juliet at the National Youth Theatre, before beginning her acting career. She had her breakthrough for her film debut as Bond girl Miranda Frost in Die Another Day (2002), and had supporting roles in the period dramas Pride & Prejudice (2005), An Education (2009) and Made in Dagenham (2010).

In the next decade, Pike had mainstream film appearances in Johnny English Reborn (2011), Wrath of the Titans (2012), Jack Reacher (2012) and The World's End (2013). She received acclaim for her starring role as Amy Dunne in the psychological thriller Gone Girl (2014), which earned her nominations for the Golden Globe Award, British Academy Film Award, and Academy Award for Best Actress.[3] Pike then portrayed Ruth Williams Khama in the biopic A United Kingdom (2016) and Marie Colvin in the war film A Private War (2018), for which she received her second Golden Globe Award nomination. She won her first Golden Globe Award for her leading performance in the dark comedy film I Care a Lot (2020), while her supporting role in the black comedy Saltburn (2023) earned her additional nominations from the Golden Globe and BAFTA Awards.[4]

On television, Pike won a Primetime Emmy Award for her role in the comedy miniseries State of the Union (2019).[5] In 2021, she began starring as Moiraine Damodred in the Amazon Prime Video fantasy series The Wheel of Time, and in 2024, she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series as an executive producer of the science fiction series 3 Body Problem.

Early life and education

Pike was born in 1979 in Hammersmith, London,[6] the only child of opera singers Julian Pike and Caroline Friend.[2][7][8] She attended Badminton School in Bristol. While appearing as Juliet in a production of Romeo and Juliet at the National Youth Theatre, she was noticed by an agent who helped her embark upon a professional career. After being turned down by every stage school to which she applied, she gained a place to read English literature at Wadham College, Oxford. She graduated with an Upper Second-class honours degree in 2001, having taken a year off to pursue her acting career, gaining stage experience in David Hare's Skylight, Arthur Miller's All My Sons, and several plays by William Shakespeare.[9]

Career

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1998–2013: Early roles and breakthrough

While she was still at Oxford, Pike acted in and directed various plays, including one by Simon Chesterman who was then a graduate student.[10] She made appearances on British television shows, including A Rather English Marriage (1998),[11] Wives and Daughters (1999) and the miniseries Love in a Cold Climate (2001). She appeared as Sarah Beaumont in an episode of the series Foyle's War. After graduating, she was offered a role as a Bond girl and MI6 agent assigned to aid James Bond in Die Another Day, and also appeared in the show Bond Girls Are Forever and, shortly afterwards, the BAFTA tribute to the James Bond film series. She was the first Bond girl to have attended Oxford.[12] Pike then played Elizabeth Malet in The Libertine (2004), co-starring Johnny Depp,[13] which won her the British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actress.[14] In the same year, she portrayed Rose in Promised Land, a film about Israel,[11] and starred as scientist Samantha Grimm in the cinematic adaptation of the computer game series Doom.[15]

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

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' novel Fugitive Pieces. She starred as a successful attorney in the film Fracture, opposite Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling. Pike was a judge at the Costa Book Awards in 2008.[16] Her stage credits include Hitchcock Blonde by Terry Johnson and Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke, both in London's West End, and Gas Light at London's Old Vic Theatre.[17] In 2009, she played the title character in Madame De Sade during the Donmar's West End season.[18]

In 2010, she appeared in the British film Made in Dagenham and in the Canadian film Barney's Version in which she plays Miriam. That same year, she starred in a production of Hedda Gabler on a UK tour. Pike recorded voicework for a lead role in the film Jackboots on Whitehall (2010) and lent her voice to a series of James Bond audio books, narrating The Spy Who Loved Me.[19] Also in 2010, Pike voiced the character Pussy Galore in the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Fleming's Goldfinger. In 2011, she played the character Kate Sumner in the 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.[20] Taking the role in Wrath of the Titans meant she had to drop out of consideration for a role in Man of Steel.[21] 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.[22] She starred as Helen Rodin, the female lead alongside Tom Cruise in the thriller Jack Reacher, an adaptation of the novel One Shot by Lee Child. The film opened to positive critical reception and grossed over $218 million.[23] The following year she had a supporting role in The World's End (2013).

2014–present: Gone Girl and other roles

Pike starred in the David Fincher-directed psychological thriller Gone Girl (2014), a film adaptation of Gillian Flynn's novel of the same name.[24] Playing 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.[25][26] The film was a box office hit, earning over $356 million in global ticket sales.[27] The movie premiered at the 53rd New York Film Festival where the film and Pike's performance both earned widespread acclaim from critics.[28]

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Pike and actor Ben Affleck attending the premiere of Gone Girl at the 52nd New York Film Festival in October 2014

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."[29] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter said 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." For her performance, she received numerous nominations including the Academy Award for Best Actress, the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Actress in a Leading Role.

From 2015, she voiced Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward in the remake of 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.[30] In 2017, she took the role of The Woman in the short film The Human Voice, written and directed by Patrick Kennedy and based on the play La voix humaine by Jean Cocteau, for which she won Best Actress at the Oxford International Film Festival.

In 2018, Pike was cast as war correspondent Marie Colvin in A Private War, directed by Matthew Heineman and based on "Marie Colvin's Private War", a Vanity Fair article by Marie Brenner. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama. In 2019, she was cast in the role of Moiraine in Amazon Prime Video's adaptation of Robert Jordan's fantasy epic The Wheel of Time,[31] which was released in November 2021. Her other films include the thriller The Informer and the biopic Radioactive; in the latter, she played Marie Curie.

In 2021, Pike starred as con artist Marla Grayson in the crime thriller I Care a Lot, directed by J Blakeson and co-starring Peter Dinklage, Eiza González and Dianne Wiest. Her performance received universal acclaim; David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter said "Pike brings crisp efficiency and dead-eyed amorality to a legal conservator",[32] and ABC News journalist Peter Travers wrote that "Pike makes a feast of the role".[33] At the 78th Golden Globe Awards, she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical.[34]

In 2021, Pike starred in and executive produced the eight episode historical fiction podcast Edith!. The scripted podcast dramatises a period during the Woodrow Wilson presidency when Wilson was incapacitated by a stroke and First Lady Edith Wilson took the reins of power while he recovered. Clark Gregg plays the role of President Wilson and Esther Povitsky portrays Trudy Grayson, the First Lady's best friend.[35][36] In 2021, Pike narrated the audiobook of Paula Hawkins' novel, A Slow Fire Burning. She also voiced an audiobook of The Eye of the World, the first book in the Wheel of Time series. In July 2022 it was announced that she would also voice audiobook versions of The Great Hunt and The Dragon Reborn.[37] In 2022, it was announced that Pike would star in Emerald Fennell's second feature film, Saltburn.[38]

Pike is an executive producer on the Netflix series 3 Body Problem based on the novel of the same name.[39] In November 2023 Pike began filming on Hallow Road[40] by Babak Anvari. In April 2024 it was revealed Pike had joined the cast of In the Grey[41] by Guy Ritchie. In May 2024 it was announced Pike had joined the cast of Now You See Me: Now You Don't.[42] In September 2024 it was announced Pike would star as the lead in the Netflix series Thumblite,[43] centred on Silicon Valley. In October Pike was cast alongside Sacha Baron Cohen in the Netflix film Ladies First[44] by Thea Sharrock. Pike will make her National Theatre debut in summer 2025 in the play Inter Alia[45] by Suzie Miller.

Personal life

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Relationships

While at Oxford, Pike was in a relationship with Simon Woods which lasted two years.[46] They later played the lovers Jane Bennet and Charles Bingley in Pride & Prejudice. She then became engaged to the director of that production, Joe Wright; their engagement ended in 2008.[47]

Since December 2009, Pike has been in a relationship with Robie Uniacke, a businessman, and they have two sons, both fluent in Mandarin.[48][49][50][51] They live in Prague.[52] In 2015, when they visited China to promote Gone Girl, Pike mentioned that Uniacke had given her a Chinese name 裴淳华 (traditional Chinese: , pinyin: Péi Chúnhuá, IPA: [pʰěɪ ʈʂʰwə̌n.xwǎ]),[53] and, that, being admirers of Chinese culture, they would like the media to use this as her Chinese name rather than using the transliteration of her English name.[54]

Activism

In 2015, Pike signed an open letter for which the ONE Campaign had been collecting signatures; the letter was addressed to Angela Merkel and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, urging them to focus on women, as they would serve as the head of the Group of Seven (G7) and the African Union (AU), respectively, which would start to set the priorities for development funding in preparation for a United Nations (UN) summit in September 2015, which was intended to establish new development goals for the next generation.[55]

In 2021, Pike became an investor in, and the creative director for, the psychedelic-inspired meditation app Lumenate, which purports to guide the user into an altered state of consciousness with flashing lights.[56]

Also in 2021, Pike became the first ambassador for Mines Advisory Group, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning NGO that assists people affected by landmines, unexploded ordnance and small arms and light weapons.[57][58]

In a 2023 interview with The Guardian, Pike expressed a belief that "we're all being conned by the wellness industry" and "this idea that it's no longer enough to be healthy and we have to be 'well' is something that needs to be interrogated". She said "it's so seductive because it's in pursuit of things that people are ashamed to want" and called it "really dangerous".[52]

Acting credits

Key
Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released

Film

More information Year, Title ...
Year Title Role Notes
2002 Die Another Day Miranda Frost
2004 Promised Land Rose
The Libertine Elizabeth Malet
2005 Pride & Prejudice Jane Bennet
Doom Dr. Samantha Grimm
2007 Fracture Nikki Gardner
Fugitive Pieces Alex
2009 An Education Helen
Surrogates Maggie Greer
Yesterday We Were in America Narrator Documentary
2010 Burning Palms Dedra Davenport
Jackboots on Whitehall Daisy (voice)
Barney's Version Miriam Grant-Panofsky
Made in Dagenham Lisa Hopkins
2011 The Organ Grinder's Monkey Rochelle Short film
Johnny English Reborn Kate Sumner
The Big Year Jessica
2012 Wrath of the Titans Queen Andromeda
Jack Reacher Helen Rodin
2013 The Devil You Know Zoe Hughes
The World's End Sam Chamberlain
2014 A Long Way Down Penny
Hector and the Search for Happiness Clara
What We Did on Our Holiday Abi McLeod
Gone Girl Amy Elliott Dunne
2015 Return to Sender Miranda Wells
2016 A United Kingdom Ruth Williams Khama
2017 The Man with the Iron Heart Lina Heydrich
Hostiles Rosalee Quaid
2018 Beirut Sandy Crowder
Entebbe Brigitte Kuhlmann
The Human Voice Woman Short film
A Private War[59] Marie Colvin
2019 The Informer Erica Wilcox
Radioactive Marie Curie
2020 I Care a Lot Marla Grayson
2021 Evidence of it All Narrator (voice) Short film
2023 Saltburn Elspeth Catton
2025 Hallow Road Mother Post-production[40]
Now You See Me: Now You Don't TBA Post-production
TBA In the Grey Post-production
Ladies First Filming[60]
Wife & Dog Filming
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Television

More information Year, Title ...
Year Title Role Notes
1998 A Rather English Marriage Celia Television film
1999 Wives and Daughters Lady Harriet Cumnor 3 episodes
2000 Trial & Retribution Lucy Episode: "Trial and Retribution IV (Part 1)"
2001 Love in a Cold Climate Fanny 2 episodes
2002 Bond Girls Are Forever Herself Documentary
Foyle's War Sarah Beaumont Episode: "The German Woman"
2008 The Tower Olivia Wynn Episode: "Pilot"
2009 Freefall Anna Television film
2011 Women in Love Gudrun Brangwen 2 episodes
2015–2020 Thunderbirds Are Go Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward /
Captain Ridley O'Bannon (voices)
39 episodes[61][62]
2018 Watership Down The Black Rabbit of Inlé (voice) 2 episodes
2019 State of the Union Louise 10 episodes
2019–present Moominvalley Moominmamma (voice) Main cast
2019–2021 Archibald's Next Big Thing Narrator (voice)
2020 Thomas & Friends[63] Duchess (voice) Episode: "Thomas and the Royal Engine"
The Windsors: A Royal Dynasty Narrator (voice) 2 episodes[64]
2021–present The Wheel of Time Moiraine Damodred Main cast; also producer
2024 3 Body Problem Executive producer only
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Stage

More information Year, Title ...
Year Title Role
2002 Hitchcock Blonde The Blonde
2006 Summer and Smoke Alma Winemiller
2007 Gas Light Bella Manningham
2009 Madame de Sade Madame de Sade
2010 Hedda Gabler Hedda Gabler
2025 Inter Alia Jessica Parks
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Music videos

More information Year, Artist ...
Year Artist Title
2016 Massive Attack feat. Young Fathers Voodoo in My Blood
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Podcasts

More information Year, Podcast ...
Year Podcast Episode Role Notes
2021 Edith! All Episodes First Lady Edith Wilson Main role; also executive producer[65]
2023 People Who Knew Me All Episodes[66] Connie Prynne/Emily Morris
Mother, Neighbor, Russian Spy All Episodes[67] Narrator
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Video Games

More information Year, Title ...
Year Title Role Notes
2022 Evidence 111[68] Mrs. Keswille (voice) English version of a Czech video game
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Audiobooks

  • Restless (novel) (2007) ISBN 978-0747586203 ASIN B000JCESY8
  • The Magician's Apprentice (Abridged) (2009) ISBN 978-1841495903 ASIN B00JHNTY3U
  • The Bolter (2009) ISBN 978-0307476425 ASIN B00JHNU2EA
  • The Spy Who Loved Me (novel) (Unabridged) (2014) ISBN 978-0670665938 ASIN B00977PYTE
  • The Hours (novel) A BBC Radio 4 Full-cast Dramatisation (Abridged) (2018) ISBN 0-374-17289-7 ASIN B07DYDRXPY
  • Pride and Prejudice (Unabridged) (2015) ISBN 979-8565411881 ASIN B016LN4BYA[69]
  • Sense and Sensibility (Unabridged) (2018) ISBN 978-1980245094 ASIN B07FDJPVWX[70]
  • A Slow Fire Burning (2021) ISBN 978-0735211230 ASIN B08PG3YNST[71]
  • The Eye of the World (Unabridged) (2021) ISBN 0-312-85009-3 ASIN B09JT5JR49
  • The Great Hunt (Unabridged) (2022) ISBN 0-312-85140-5 ASIN B0B7KGZLKB
  • Origins of The Wheel of Time: The Legends and Mythologies that Inspired Robert Jordan (2021) ISBN 978-1250860521 ASIN B0B725LXC6
  • The Dragon Reborn (Unabridged) (2023) ISBN 0-312-85248-7 ASIN B0B7KLSK3K[37]
  • The Shadow Rising (Unabridged) (2024) ISBN 0-312-854-31-5 ASIN B0D94V1ZYD[72]


Accolades

See also

Notes

  1. On her official Instagram account, she captioned that 27 January is not her accurate birth date, but confirmed she was born in 1979.[1]

References

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