Rosamund Pike has criticised the way directors have approached her about performing nude scenes, stating that such requests 'never benefit the woman'. The 47-year-old actor, currently starring in the West End play Inter Alia, shared her experiences in an interview with GQ Magazine.
Pike recalled a lunch meeting with director Terry Johnson ahead of the 2003 play Hitchcock Blonde, her first stage role after the James Bond film Die Another Day. Johnson took her to a 'quite smart Italian restaurant' to discuss a scene requiring her character to walk across the stage naked. She described the conversation as a 'double-edged sword', where the director appeared to be 'assuaging his own conscience' while offering a 'plum role'.
The actor also referenced a similar discussion with director Matthew Heineman before the 2018 film A Private War, in which she played war journalist Marie Colvin. Heineman argued that nudity would convey 'total vulnerability', but Pike noted that the benefit was ultimately for the film, not for her. 'It never benefits the woman to be naked,' she said.
Pike received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance in A Private War but lost to Glenn Close. She recently won an Olivier Award for Inter Alia, a play about a high court judge confronting her moral code after her son is accused of sexual violence.
