Rosamund Pike

Rosamund Pike
Pike at the premiere of Barney's Version in January 2011
Born	Rosamund Mary Elizabeth Pike (1979-01-27) 27 January 1979 (age 33) London, England, UK
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1998–present
Partner	Robie Uniacke

Rosamund Mary Elizabeth Pike (born 27 January 1979) is an English actress. Her film roles include villainous Bond girl Miranda Frost in Die Another Day, Jane Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, Helen in An Education, Lisa in Made in Dagenham, Miriam Grant-Panofsky in Barney's Version, Kate Sumner in Johnny English Reborn and Andromeda in Wrath of the Titans.

Early life

Pike was born in London, England, the only child of concert musicians/opera singers Caroline (née Friend) and Julian Pike.^[1] Her father is now a professor at the Birmingham Conservatoire.^[2]

The family travelled across Europe until she was seven, following wherever her parents' performing career took them; as a result, she speaks fluent French and German.^[2] Pike won a scholarship to Badminton School,^[2] 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.^[2]

After being turned down by every stage school she applied to, she gained a place to read English Literature at Wadham College, Oxford.^[2] While there, she studied under both Bernard O'Donoghue, the Whitbread prize-winning poet, and Robert J. C. Young, the eminent post-colonial theorist.^{[citation needed]} She starred opposite Simon Woods in Pride and Prejudice.

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.^[3]

Career

While she was still at university, Pike made appearances on British television shows, including A Rather English Marriage (1998),^{[citation needed]} 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.

After graduating she considered working at Waterstone's bookshop, due to a lack of acting opportunities,^[2] 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 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),^{[citation needed]} and starred as scientist Samantha Grimm in the cinematic adaptation of the computer game Doom.^{[citation needed]} In 2005, she appeared as Jane, the elder sister of Elizabeth (played by Keira Knightley), in Pride & Prejudice.

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

Pike has a role in the film adaptation of Anne Michaels's novel Fugitive Pieces. She 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)^[4] and Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke, both in London's West End, and Gaslight at London's Old Vic Theatre.^{[citation needed]} Pike has said that she would be happy to do at least one play every year.^[5] In 2009, she played the title character in Madame De Sade during the Donmar's West End season.^[6]

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.^[7]

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.^[8]

Pike plays the part of Kate Sumner in the 2011 Bond-spoof film Johnny English Reborn, playing a psychologist and English's love interest.

She appeared as Andromeda in the 2012 film release of Wrath of the Titans, the sequel to Clash of the Titans (2010), featuring Sam Worthington and Liam Neeson.

Personal life

While she was at Oxford, Pike had a two-year relationship with actor Simon Woods^[9].

She was engaged in 2007 to film director Joe Wright^[10], but he called off the wedding in 2008^[9].

In May 2012, it was reported that she gave birth to her first child, a son, Solo. The father is Robie Uniacke, a businessman 16 years Pike's senior, who she has been dating since December 2009.^[11]

Pike is a skilled cellist.^[2]

Filmography

Pike at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rosamund Pike

• Rosamund Pike at the Internet Movie Database