Amy Dunne: The role Rosamund Pike admits “brought a lot of unpleasantness into the world”
For better or for worse, there is one role that Rosamund Pike seems to be tied to inseparably. Gaining a reputation as an actor with a penchant for playing nasty or unlikable female characters, one of her characters, in particular, is the pinnacle of the trope.
Pike’s performance in Gone Girl is, without a doubt, one of the most striking of recent times. Her take on Amy Dunne is chilling as she navigates the twisted tale of revenge. Based on the book by Gillian Flynne, the movie tells the story of a husband who wakes up one day to find his wife missing and himself framed for the incident. With several plot twists, gorey moments and shocking scenes, Pike is a triumph.
There are several stories of actors struggling to get out of a character. Especially when playing a particularly evil or violent role, it seems to be difficult to shake it off. Pike felt that after the film, admitting, “You go home and think, ‘I can do anything I want. This is so extreme. It’s a version of being a woman that isn’t contained in any way.’”
She’s said that it took her months to shake Amy Dunne off her, especially as the plot was top secret for a long while after filming the movie. “You play a part like this and people always ask you when you got the character out of your system,” Pike said. “We finished the movie, and then, it wasn’t until the New York premiere that we could finally talk about it, and I was like, ‘I’ve basically been playing Amy for the last six months. I’ve been lying and hiding things and not telling the truth.’ Suddenly, you’re like, ‘Okay, she’s gone, and now people know what it’s about.’”
Pike seems to have complex feelings towards the figure. On one hand, the role was a dream to play as she said, “There’s no actress who wouldn’t dream of a character like that.” But with all the violence and deceit held within the character, the actor still feels slightly uneasy.
“I brought a lot of unpleasantness into the world, playing Amy,” Pike said, “She’s not a relaxing person to play.” The character sits on the furthest edge of psychopathy, with the actor continuing, “There’s nothing authentic about her. I suppose there is when she’s vitriolic and true. In her dealings with other people, she’s relentlessly never herself.”
The only way Pike could shake the character off was by attempting to go the whole other way. “I didn’t know where to go from there, professionally,” she admitted. Instead, she needed to find a more nurturing part of herself and step into motherhood. “I finished playing Amy and thought, “I have to create a human being, after that person.”
“I think I needed to be relentlessly authentic and myself for a while and bring an innocent human being into the world,” Pike said. Finally freeing herself from Amy Dunne and giving herself space to contemplate her next move, Pike clearly wasn’t put off playing cold and calculated figures. With her roles in Saltburn and I Care A Lot capturing the same callous energy, it seems to be a trait she can’t escape.
