Yay! Rosamund Pike covers the February issue of Vanity Fair, and all she’s talking about is Gone Girl. Which came out a few months ago, so this VF cover is just about Rosamund’s last push for a Best Actress Oscar nomination. Considering Rosamund has gotten nominations from all of the big awards shows so far, I’m thinking she’ll probably get an Oscar nomination. If she doesn’t, I will be mad! Anyway, you can read the VF excerpt here, and here are some highlights:
Gone Girl was her most grueling film experience: “I spent more time in front of the camera on that film than in my entire career to date, because he’s shooting five to six hours of footage a day, and over a hundred days shootingthat mounts up,” Pike tells Kashner.
The crazy scene with Neil Patrick Harris: They shot the scene in which Pike slits the throat of Neil Patrick Harris, who plays her savior/captor, Desi Collings, 36 times; the set had to be remade for each take. “I told them to rehearse it for three days,” David Fincher tells Kashner, “as we’re pumping five gallons of blood out of Desi’s throat.” They choreographed it for a week, then filmed it with 36 sheets, 450 gallons of blood, and 36 pairs of underpants on hand.
Rosamund on working with Fincher and dealing with stardom: “I feel like I’ve dealt with the Minotaur and now I’m facing the Medusa.”
Famous for Gone Girl: “I went into this lovely Spanish shop and the girl said, ‘Has anyone ever told you you look just like the girl in Gone Girl?,’ and I said, ‘Well, that’s me.’ And then she just looked at me with this deepest look of suspicion. And I said, ‘I’m pregnant, so I look a bit different, and I’m English.’ And she’s like, ‘But why are you here?’ And I said, ‘Well, I’m from here.’ And it was like, ‘You should not be buying cold cuts in a restaurant in Soho!'”
Basing Amy on Carolyn Bessette Kennedy: “I had these images before and after of Carolyn as an 18-year-old and as a 20-year-old, the notion of someone self-made. She crafted herself, she re-invented herself, and invented that persona. That’s where I began….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 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 think that was astute of David Fincher to tell Rosamund to study Carolyn Bessette Kennedy for Amy Dunne. Like, if Carolyn Bessette was a psychopath, that’s Amy Dunne. As for the craziness of working with David Fincher… yeah. Here’s my worry: that Rosamund is going to become, like, some kind of Rooney Mara actress after working with Fincher. Rooney got an Oscar nomination for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, but post-Fincher, Rooney’s career has been pretty scattered. I’d love to see Rosamund really join the A-list post-Gone Girl.
Here are some photos of Rosamund over the weekend at the Variety Creative Impact Awards. Her ensemble is Proenza Schouler Pre-Fall 2015 collection. Pretty.
Photos courtesy of WENN, cover courtesy of VF.
But Amy Dunne married “down.” She was the rich ivy league educated one in the relationship. She reinvented herself because she was a psychopath not a gold digger.
True. But I still think it’s a really interesting starting point from which to build the character. I was always fascinated with Carolyn, too, she was mysterious. And when I realized how much she had reinvented herself I thought she was even more intriguing because it was hard to discern what was authentic about her and what was contrived.
I hear ya, but Carolyn Bessette already paid the ultimate price. Somehow comparing her to Amy Dunne feels icky.
I thought the comparison was a bit weird, mainly because Carolyn Bessette probably had an invented persona for the public (like every famous person), but in her real life she was probably authentic to her friends and family. She didn’t owe us the public anything by helping us get to know her better just because she married JFK Jr. Also, most 30 year olds are different from their 20 year old selves, so if she was slimmer, had better hair, and had tweezed eyebrows I saw that as a function of growing up and the industry she was in, not some wacko reasoning like Amy Dunne probably had. But at the same I can see how a thin, blonde woman would give inspiration to an actress in other ways. Carolyn Bessette Kennedy did not come to mind while watching the movie though.
Haven’t seen the movie yet, but…
I miss the days of Carolyn Bessette and JFK Jr. being on the scene. CBessette was such a mystery in many ways, it’s why she reminded me a bit of Jackie. Carolyn Bessette never seemed to give away much of what she was really thinking when she appeared in public.
perplexed, While I don’t in any way think Bessette was a psychopath and I do agree that she was likely very different in public than in private, from what I’ve read the comparison isn’t so odd in the respect that she seemed to reinvent herself in an effort to move in the circles where she could land JFK Jr.
I think that’s possible. I thought she reinvented her look a bit, but I saw that as also being part and parcel of working for Calvin Klein. I think she had the aspiration to marry “up,” but I thought her overall look and demeanour was the result of who she really was (didn’t she come from a fairly well-to-do family in Greenwich Connecticut?) and because she wound up in the fashion industry (I’d be dieting up a storm if I had to stand next to Kate Moss too). It so happened this was the kind of look JFK Jr. was attracted to, but I felt she would have looked and acted that way no matter she landed. She may have planned to be in the same spots as JFK Jr like Kate Middleton planned to be in the same spots as William, but I think a lot of women (and men) do that.
This, y’all Carolyn was born on the right side of the tracks. It’s not as if Carolyn was poor. She certainly polished herself up, but she lived in New York City and worked in fashion. A bit of polishing is basically mandatory with those life experiences. As for marrying up, anyone who married JFK Jr. would’ve been thought to be doing the same. The man was considered a Prince.
I hear you on all your points. But to me that’s somewhat similar to Amy in GG, a big part of her twisted philosophy (in the book at least, I haven’t seen the film) seemed to stem from her resentment about the games people play in attracting their partners. Granted Carolyn’s “games” were innocuous in comparison. I’m not trying to trash her or start a fight, in fact I was always a big admirer of Carolyn’s style.
Noooo! Please tell me they did not give her 90’s mom hair for the cover!!!
I know, yikes, what a terrible cover shot.
I dd not notice the hair because I couldn’t stop staring at her drawn-in breasts.
Carolyn Bessette was and still is my forever girl crush.
Me too. She’s been the only famous person I’ve ever been interested in mimicking fashion-wise. 🙁
Me too! I still refer to pics of her because her style was so classic. She died too young for the public to know too much about her, which adds to the air of her mystery. I always thought she looked like a “Hitchcock Blonde” and had the kind of look that Goop tries so hard and fails to achieve.
She really did have amazing style and singlehandedly started some major fashion trends, I also can’t get enough of seeing photos of her. And I can’t help but make the comparison to Kate Middleton, who also has the same sort of potential but just doesn’t have the inherent style to pull it off.
Yes, Loved her style. I was mesmerized by CBessette’s fashion choices, since the day she came out of the church in that gorgeous white gown.
Me three!!
On a snarky note, Towards the end of her short life, everyone was copying her look, but I felt then and now that GOOP studied and copies her more than anyone else.
However, it’s amazing to be inspired by someone who was simultaneously ultra fashionable, with her avant garde designers like Comme des Garcon and Yohji Yamamoto, and very conservative in her Calvin Klein.
Her wedding dress and that white Versace to some hollywood party are still my favourite looks.
Sorry LAK, looks like we posted at the same time about the Goop, great minds and all… ☺
Mine as well! She was a little on the homely side but beautiful at the same time. I loved her fashion sense.
Fincher is obsessed with impeccably dressed, cold, distant, very blonde women. I think he must see them as the ultimate status symbol.
Amy Dunne appeared strangly asexual in the film, no warmth. I don’t get why such women are considered sexy. They are a status symbol but hot they aren’t.
He had it all wrong when it came to CBK then. Her “coldness” came from hating the paps and all of the attention. If you look at photos of her before she met JFK Jr. and in their early years of dating, she looked like a completely different person – all smiles, comfortable body language, etc. A few months before she died, she started looking that way again, like she was finally getting used to the attention. Friends and acquaintances have always said she was a very warm person.
Her look betrayed who she really was, IMO. It was a beautiful look though.
I agree. Also, if she didn’t say anything publicly, that’s probably because she hadn’t been famous for long. She was also still a private figure as was JFK, Jr. The amount of talking publicly coming from them probably would have changed had they both lived longer and he had decided to run for office. But as they were both private figures who happened to be famous, there really wasn’t much reason for either to speak randomly to the public like Lena Dunham. In the age of Twitter, maybe this would have changed though.
@Molly — Now that you mention that — I am so curious to know if January Jones came at all close to this role.
My initial fantasy casting was her and Jon Hamm — just because it would’ve been weird and meta and kind of fun.
No, Molly. Fincher thinks he is the second coming of Hitchcock and emulates his style of filmmaking and attitude, especially when it comes to his female stars.
Wow!
The baby weight already headed for the quickest possible exit.
“Boarding at Heathrow Terminal 5”
She is the grown up version of Elle Fanning.
Oh… You’re right
Oh wow, you’re right. But Rosamund has the voice of God’s favorite angel, rocking you to sleep for your mid morning nap.
I’d like to see her get a nomination too, she was great in the film.
I hope after this she can do what she likes in her career, whether that’s big A list stardom or smaller films. Gone Girl has been hugely successful, and she’s talented.
I think she will be alright. I caught a movie of hers with Paul Giamatti, Barney ‘ s Version. When I turned it off I thought that should have been the film that were she should be getting better scripts. Went to look it up and found that the movie did not do well which is a pity.
I don’t see what was so great about Carolyn Bessette.
She looked pretty and sophisticated, but kept her mouth shut so she never ruined the image. People projected a lot onto her, wanting to make her some sort of Grace Kelly/Jackie O hybrid. I always got the feeling that John Jr. was trying to do the same thing.
She had charisma and “presence”. She oozed it.
Really loved her interview. But whenever I see the word “underpants” I think of Seth Cohen: “Mom! Don’t say underpants.” I miss the O.C.
I only read the book and it never occurred to me that the character could be similar to CBK. Somehow evil sociopath doesn’t come to mind when I think of Carolyn. I hated that book though and just wanted to get through it quickly. If I was a fan, I’d see the movie to see what she’s talking about.
She’s the Doppler effect!! (Big Bang reference).
She was amazing in that role. I know almost noting about CBK but I do wonder why David Fincher gave Rosamund the idea to study her. Did he know her? Interesting. in any case, it was genius. I would love for her to be recognized for this performance.
I ordered the Vanity Fair with Carolyn awhile back on Ebay — I *love* her. But it’s true… she was a walking mystery. Everyone seems to have a different perspective of her, but the word “cool” was used a lot. Irony.
Carole Radziwill seems to have been a bit obsessed with her — just read her amazing memoir.
Is it OK to post a Pinterest pic here? If so, here’s a shot that shows what she was like when she didn’t think the paps were watching. This was July 4th at the Hyannis Kennedy complex and she looked relaxed in almost every shot I’ve seen from that event.
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/255297872598639669/
(Excuse my overflow of Carolyn comments – it’s so rare that I have fellow fans to discuss her with.)
Beautiful photos, thanks for sharing. She was glam and impeccable dressed up or down. And you could drop her into any current photo and she’d still stand out as utterly fashion forward, it’s almost eerie. As I browsed through the photos I was reminded a bit about George and Amal and how people are trying to make Amal a fashion icon…Amal doesn’t even come close to having the “it” factor Carolyn had.
I think Fincher wanted her character to have the cipher-like persona that Carolyn had. She was all cool elegance on the surface but what was underneath was probably completely different. She had oodles of charisma but preferred to rein it in, to be self-contained in a world where she was under the media microscope. People are attracted to that kind of mystery.
Post Spoiler Warnings!!! I haven’t had time to read the book or see the movie, but I want to see the movie when it comes out to rent online…eventually!
PIKEMANIA!!!!!!!!!
I love her! I am beyond excited for her to blow up and become a major movie star. She is very very enigmatic and I hope that doesn’t change with her newfound fame. She was so great in Gone Girl. What I loved about her performance is that I don’t think any other actress could have given it that kind of mystique, allure and dose of crazy. Maybe a younger Cate Blanchett (though I love her version of crazy/unraveling in Blue Jasmine).
I can’t wait for Pike’s career to grow. Next up, a project with my favorite man candy – Charlie Hunnam!!!!!! Pikeamania and Hot Hunnam – be still my beating heart.
I love her too ever since I saw her in Pride and Prejudice. She reminds me of my all time fav actress Grace Kelly.
A thread where posters are glorifying Carolyn Kennedy for looking cool. Now I’ve read everything. Trust me her look is about all she had going for her. JFK, Jr. was a nice, basically down to earth guy. She was not.
Yeah, I don’t get it either. She was cuckoo for cocoa puffs … off the charts nuts.
Didn’t she also have a little cocaine problem? Didn’t that VF article imply that the reason they were late taking off that day was because she was trying to score blow from her hairdresser and it was late coming in?
She did look cool though. I have no idea of what her actual personality was like (although I have read the stories), but I can see her look and fashion-sense would appeal to people — I mean, it did appeal to JFK, Jr.
A lot of stories have come out since her death, but since she never had the chance to defend herself against the stories like most living celebrities have the chance to do, I’m never really sure how to view them or the people who told them (i.e the guy who claimed to have an affair with her and wrote a book about it — who does that even if it’s true?)
Am I the only one who thought CBK often looked drab?? When it came to her clothing, she was so classic and chic and very well turned out, but the woman underneath would almost appear bleak or stark. I always thought she looked very unhappy.