Theatre interview: Rosamund Pike as Hedda Gabler at Theatre Royal Bath

Here's a new and very recent interview of Rosamund Pike (as Hedda Gabler photo by Theatre Royal Bath Productions) from Crackerjack.cu.uk...

Read highlights of her interesting interview below...

Theatre interview: Rosamund Pike as Hedda Gabler at Theatre Royal Bath

Natalie Hale talks to movie star Rosamund Pike about her new role on stage as Hedda Gabler
 
“I know that people struggle to pin me down, but I don’t mind that.” 

Rosamund Pike is certainly something of an enigma. The elegant actress, who recently starred in the Oscar-nominated film An Education, is quietly spoken yet assertive and intense, and our interview is punctuated by hearty laughs and thoughtful silences. 

In the past, she has been described as haughty and aloof, but perhaps that’s simply because she’s not the archetypal Hollywood star who relishes the attention that fame brings. “Maybe it’s because I like my own space,” muses Rosamund, when we discuss how she is perceived. “I am very used to being on my own and I don’t really like to be surrounded by people.” 

So to be thrust into the spotlight when cast as a Bond girl at the tender age of 21 was something of a shock. Rosamund played Miranda Frost in Die Another Day, opposite Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry and Judi Dench.
The character was cold, confident and completely unapproachable – perhaps another reason why she is portrayed this way off screen?

After the Bond film was released, Rosamund was catapulted into the public eye. She was constantly photographed and her personal life and relationships were gossip column fodder.
The actress admits that it was – and continues to be – tough.

“It was just before all the reality TV shows and the gossip magazines took off and so one wasn’t really aware of what could happen. I thought the way it worked was that I would give an interview and that interview would be published and read. I never thought about the paparazzi element. I never thought about being followed or about your private life being of great interest. It’s a lot to deal with at any age. 

“But I do respond to all my fan letters, which takes an enormous amount of time. I feel that for all the people who want to make money out of you by selling stories and images, there are people who genuinely want to make contact with you because they like your work.” 

It comes as little surprise, then, that instead of capitalising on her Bond fame and heading for the bright lights of Hollywood, she returned to the London stage where she bared all in Terry Johnson’s Hitchcock Blonde.
Since then, Rosamund has worked with some of the biggest names on both stage and screen. She appeared with Johnny Depp in The Libertine and starred as Jane Bennet alongside Keira Knightly in the film version of Pride and Prejudice. 

She also shared the screen with Antony Hopkins in Fracture and Surrogates with Bruce Willis.
Most recently, she reunited with Die Another Day co-star Judi Dench in Madame De Sade during the Donmar’s sell-out West End season and appeared in the much-lauded film An Education, in which she demonstrates her comic talents as a Sixties swinger. 

“Finally! Thank God!,” she exclaims on being cast in a comic role. “It was heaven really. You forget how indelible images are. You do a role like Miranda Frost and people think that you can’t smile.” 

Rosamund is now in rehearsals for a new production of Ibsen’s masterpiece Hedda Gabler alongside a stellar cast including Tim McInnerny, best known for playing Lord Percy and Captain Darling in the Blackadder series and Robert Glenister, star of the BBC drama Hustle. The production opens in Bath – one of just five cities on a UK tour. 

Rosamund stars as Hedda. Thrilling, enigmatic, destructive, she is undoubtedly one of theatre’s most irresistible heroines. 

Read full interview here!

Hedda Gabler appears at the Theatre Royal Bath from Tuesday, February 23, to Saturday, March 6. Tickets cost £15.50-£31.50 – call 01225 448844.

Updated: 2/27/10
Here's a link of a very nice review of Rosamund Pike's Hedda Gabler Theatre Royal Bath performance this week! Hedda Gabler: Theatre Royal, Bath