Rosamund Pike is having a bit of a moment right now, thanks to her starring role in David Fincher's adaptation of Gone Girl, in which she stars as Amy, the wife of Ben Affleck and the centre of a murder plot.
She's already been Oscar tipped for the performance and while it's been a rough ride, she fell ill with a fever the night before filming began, the actress revealed to Variety magazine that she was convinced it was the role of a lifetime.
"I was unbelievably excited and unbelievably scared," she recalled on receiving the role, "You suddenly feel so small. I thought, 'I'm embarking on this thing I've always wanted.' "
Clearly emotional Rosamund broke down in the interview, laughing as her eyes welled up: "I'm going to cry now. Someone is giving me that chance, which is something I've wanted since I've been a tiny girl."
Not that it wasn't a struggle, Pike fell ill with a 103-degree fever the night before filming began in Missouri, she recalled: "I threw up three times. My body was going through a lot of changes," ironically, it was the first time she'd been on set from day one.
"I've usually had the luxury of coming on a couple weeks into it," she added. "There were frequent times when I'd just go home and say, 'I'm going to give up,' " she admitted. "I think probably around take 18 of getting my head bashed against the wall, I literally saw stars," she added, going on to describe the toll she went through in playing Amy.
Rosamund Pike covers Variety
"I think if David hadn't been worried about animal rights, he would have used pig's blood. It is one of the hardest things to get screen blood to have texture and get it to dry in the correct way. Blood goes through so many stages as it dries. It becomes sticky and changes color. And arterial blood is different from other types of blood. We had many blood tests."
The intensity of the shoot took it's toll on the actress and she admitted reaching out to Jack Reacher co-star Tom Cruise during filming: "I thought, 'I've got to reach out to somebody who has been in this position,' "
"Trust yourself," he told her "You're in the hands of a great director. You're ready."
While Fincher claimed Pike was born to play the part and with Oscar nomination rumours flying, the actress is keeping her feet on the ground. "The buzz about it is so daunting," she confessed. "Obviously, because of Fincher and this book, the expectations are so f****** high. I rang up David, and said, 'Come on, you've got to give me someone who doesn't like it.' "
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