Gone Girl star Rosamund Pike is riding high both personally and professionally.
Pregnant with her second child, the 35-year-old also shares credits with Ben Affleck in the thriller that everyone is talking about. But just how did the luminous actress – who describes herself as "passionately driven to the point of oddness" – get to this point? Learn more about her slow-burning success with these ten facts.
© Photo: Getty ImagesRosamund Pike's second child is due in November
1.She had never seen a Bond film before being cast, aged 21, as Miranda Frost in Die Another Day.
2.The blonde beauty is a skilled cellist and also plays the piano.
3. Her parents are opera singer Julian Pike and violinist Caroline Friend. Her childhood was spent travelling around Europe with them as they performed with the result that she speaks French and German.
Rosamund Pike stars opposite Ben Affleck in a career-making role in Gone Girl
4. Rosamund played Keira Knightley's sister in the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice.
5. Love blossomed on set when director Joe Wright asked her out. Unfortunately, their four-year relationship came to an abrupt end when he pulled the plug just after the save-the-date cards for their wedding had gone out. At the time she said: "I don't think you ever get over something like that, do you?"
6. Her current partner is mathematical researcher Robie Uniake, the father of her son Solo, who was born in May 2012. He has four other children from two previous marriages and has overcome substance abuse issue. She describes him as "very clever, very astute and very, very well read and articulate".
7. The actress has a 2:1 degree from Wadham College, Oxford, where she was friends with Chelsea Clinton.
Rosamund Pike's breakout role was in Die Another Day
8. She took an unconventional path after the Bond film, following it with an acclaimed turn in Terry Johnson's Hitchcock Blonde. For the West production Rosamund appeared naked on stage and simulated sex.
9. The part in Gone Girl went to her ahead of Natalie Portman, Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt, Abbie Cornish, Olivia Wilde, and Julianne Hough.
10. Director David Fincher flew her to St Louis to drink whisky with him to see if she had the guts to play the part.
