Loading summary
David Tennant
Hey, Georgia.
Georgia Tennant
Hi, David.
David Tennant
Have you ever wished that you could slip into a disguise and travel anywhere in an instant?
Georgia Tennant
Is that a joke?
David Tennant
No, no, seriously, Seriously. I'm talking about NordVPN.
Georgia Tennant
Oh, okay, I see.
David Tennant
Georgia, look, I'm relocating.
Georgia Tennant
Relocating? You're literally on the sofa.
David Tennant
Not physically. Digitally. I'm digitally relocating. Thanks to NordVPN, I can switch my virtual location to 111 different countries with just one click. So now I can access movies, shows, websites from all over the world. And I don't even need to teleport.
Georgia Tennant
And what about security?
David Tennant
Well, NORDVPN encrypts all my online activity, protects against cyber threats, even gives dark web alerts to keep my personal data safe. And I want my personal data to be safe. Perfect for dodgy public Wi Fi's right.
Georgia Tennant
Because nothing screams hack me like a bloke at an airport clicking on free Wi fi.
David Tennant
Well, exactly, yes. Which is why we highly recommend downloading the NORDVPN app, especially for banking and sensitive data.
Georgia Tennant
Want to stay safe online?
David Tennant
Just go to NordVPN.com tenant, use the code and get four extra months free on a two year plan.
Georgia Tennant
So you're basically getting premium cybersecurity for the price of a cup of coffee per month.
David Tennant
To get the best discount off your NORDVPN plan, go to nordvpn.com tenant. Our link will also give you four extra months on the two year plan. No risk with Nord's 30 day money back guarantee. The link is in the podcast episode description box.
Rosamund Pike
You don't get the shock anymore of what your voice sounds like, do you? It does go away at some point, doesn't it?
David Tennant
It does go away, but yes, it's a peculiar thing, isn't it, when you first hear it?
Rosamund Pike
Well, I remember when I was a child and you'd hear if I ever had left a message for my parents and I would come home and it would still be on the answering machine, it would be this. It would be so abrasive and unpleasant. And at some point that disconnect has gone away, but I don't know when it went.
David Tennant
One is subjected to one's own voice doing what we do. So I suppose after a while you get battered into submission by it. Don't. Whether you like it or not.
Rosamund Pike
And the back of your head too. You've also become aware of that. That's a shock as well.
David Tennant
It is a shock. There are still the odd angle though. There's still the odd angle that I'll see and go, whoa. What's that?
Rosamund Pike
Yes. Somebody. Somebody sent me a picture the other day asking if they could post it, you know, for some, you know, various makeup looks or costume looks. One picture, I was just like, who? Who is that? It was a hard no, even though it's probably the only one that told the truth.
David Tennant
Well, y. We are sort of slightly. We kind of age through sort of approved photographs, don't we? And every now and again an unapproved one slips through and you realize what the terrible reality might be, what everyone else is seeing.
Rosamund Pike
I love that we age through approved photos.
David Tennant
David Tennant does a podcast with Rosamund Pike. Rosamund, thank you for being here today.
Rosamund Pike
You're very welcome.
David Tennant
In preparing for this, obviously I've been doing my research. I've been sniffing around your do you.
Rosamund Pike
Have a team of researchers?
David Tennant
Just me. Is it just me? It is just me.
Rosamund Pike
Is it?
David Tennant
It is just me. Every now and again they'll send me some stuff through.
Rosamund Pike
Are you using AI yet to do this?
David Tennant
I'm not.
Rosamund Pike
Have you tried it?
David Tennant
The only thing I've tried, A.I. have you tried A.I.
Rosamund Pike
Yes.
David Tennant
For what?
Rosamund Pike
Well, I've just been in New York doing a press tour on the Wheel of Time, and I thought, I've got to get into this. So I wanted to ask Gemini advance how she would do my answers for me, how she would describe the experience of playing Moiraine Damod and the Wheel of Time. And the interesting thing is, which completely astonished me, is that before you get the answer, you get the game plan. So the AI says, here is how I'm going to approach the question. I mean, my teachers would have been so proud of me had I like Gemini. No, had I been done. The game plan that Gemini executes. So she says, I'm going to sift through a list of resources where Rosamund pike has spoken about playing Moiraine. I'm also going to cross refer that to fan reactions to the Wheel of Time, to fan lore on the Wheel of Time, and to the original source material.
David Tennant
Right.
Rosamund Pike
Which of course she can do in I'm calling her a she Gemini in about, you know, not two seconds flat, but maybe 25 seconds.
David Tennant
Yeah.
Rosamund Pike
She sources all this material and then she comes up with something pretty plausible, I have to say. And the other thing now, this is why I really bring this up, because there's a feature where you can put in an academic paper or a kind of a long interview, a long article, and it will turn it into a podcast for you. So it will take With AI Voices. With AI Voices, a man and a Woman even so far as it'll add the little sort of interstitial remarks like, uh huh, yep, yep, wow. Except to a trained ear, you know that it's slightly wrong. So you say something to me. Yep.
David Tennant
Oh, I see. So the timing's a little bit old.
Rosamund Pike
Yeah.
David Tennant
Yeah. But that's presumably temporary. That's going to get better.
Rosamund Pike
The fact that you're even having the conversation where you're discussing the timing of an aha means that you're already at an astonishingly, disturbingly high level.
David Tennant
So this may be the final podcast as humans we are required to record is.
Rosamund Pike
Well, I don't know if it could do new material. This is a precis of something pre existing, like, you know, a long, gritty New York Times article on Syria say that you want to turn into.
David Tennant
It must be making decisions on what it feels are the more salient points. And presumably that's part of its programming.
Rosamund Pike
You're gonna do this. I hope you're gonna say that.
David Tennant
Well, I probably am now. I do worry slightly though. Doesn't it sort of burn down a of the rainforest every time you sort of ask it for directions? Isn't it terribly environmentally damaging the amount of water that's required to run the now I'm at the extent of my knowledge.
Rosamund Pike
Shall we ask it? And it will lie? When does it get the capacity to lie? That's the big question. Yes.
David Tennant
We're accusing it of being environmentally calamitous. Will it admit to the fact?
Rosamund Pike
That's such a good question.
David Tennant
But dare we ask it? Well, burned out.
Rosamund Pike
So we do it. We could do it while we talk and it could be thinking, yeah, what.
David Tennant
Are you going to ask it?
Rosamund Pike
Good afternoon, Gemini. Could you please research whether asking you a question is incredibly environmentally unfriendly? Is any rainforest destroyed in the answering of a question? Thank you.
David Tennant
Interesting. We'll come back to us. That'll be an excellent finale. So I've been preparing for this and we've known each other many years.
Rosamund Pike
We have.
David Tennant
But what's interesting is there's not a great deal of biographical detail about you out there. There's a bit. But considering how long you've been doing this and the profile that you have established. Wikipedia, for instance. I don't know if you know this is unsure how old you are, which is a great triumph. Well done. But I wonder if that's.
Rosamund Pike
Have you.
David Tennant
Have you stage managed that or has it. Have you just been lucky or have you or I don't know if you regard that as lucky.
Rosamund Pike
I do regard that as lucky because there's so much information out there. You know, your mother's maiden name, all the. All the basic password protective protecting questions are fully known about most actors. The place you were born, your mother's maiden name, your first school. Yeah, maybe not. Maybe your first pet is probably out there too, you know, but have you.
David Tennant
Have you worked at trying to be discreet?
Rosamund Pike
I'm going to look like I'm a sort of technological. I'm not very technological, but I do feel that we have to pay attention. And I remember at one stage trying to see if you can, you know, change some things, like change the photo that comes up on Wikipedia and things. And the answer is you can't.
David Tennant
Okay.
Rosamund Pike
Wikipedia can only be managed by somebody who is not you.
David Tennant
Right.
Rosamund Pike
So it has to be managed by whoever feels that they're the guardian of your page. You know, whether that and who that person is is also unknown. Whether that person is a fan or goodness.
David Tennant
Or an enemy.
Rosamund Pike
Or an enemy. Exactly.
David Tennant
Yes. Yes.
Rosamund Pike
Or an enemy. Yeah. Probably an enemy. So anyway, so there. So depending on whether your picture. You know, sometimes you can go on the Wikipedia page and people have incredibly nice photos. Have you ever done that? And you think, God, that's really nice. That looks all very artistic and like it's a magazine spread.
David Tennant
Yours is a lovely photograph, although with a rather uncharacteristic fringe.
Rosamund Pike
Ah, yeah, yeah. That was a brief. That was Hairgate, actually. That was hairgate when my partner thought he couldn't really have sort of dinner opposite me during the whole time that I had the fringe.
David Tennant
Wow.
Rosamund Pike
He found it so alienating.
David Tennant
So did you just.
Rosamund Pike
I thought it was fantastic. Cause it did exactly what I wanted it to do, which is completely hide my expressions.
David Tennant
Right, right. So did you take to eating in separate rooms or did you wear a beanie?
Rosamund Pike
No, side by side, French style.
David Tennant
Yes. Good. Yeah. Well, it's good to have done that, though. But it's not. And not easy.
Rosamund Pike
Never had a hair gate. Never had a hair gate in your relationship. Never had a hair.
David Tennant
I mean, look at this. I mean, what color is my hair? Currently I seem to be blonde.
Rosamund Pike
Currently you are quite blonde. Yeah. Which is against the purple.
David Tennant
I don't know what's against this chair. Yeah. I don't know what's going on. It's colliding dye jobs that have left me.
Rosamund Pike
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
David Tennant
None of which were choice. All of which have been inflicted on me by very. And you're just left kind of with an odd barnet of thatch on your head.
Rosamund Pike
But I Was explaining to my son what a thatched roof was this morning.
David Tennant
Oh, yeah.
Rosamund Pike
We were doing a crossword and the word thatch came up.
David Tennant
Yeah.
Rosamund Pike
So it's actually. The thatch roof is a beautiful thing.
David Tennant
Listen, I don't hate it. It just doesn't feel very me. And I've already got some quite extreme roots going on. Although I then. But Georgie was telling me that's a.
Rosamund Pike
Look at itself quiet in.
David Tennant
So I can just lean into it and pretend that it was all.
Rosamund Pike
Yes, the anti expensive highlights.
David Tennant
Look. Yeah, yeah.
Rosamund Pike
So haregate not happened. But that was a. Yeah, Fringe time was hairgate. Yeah.
David Tennant
But have you always been very guarded?
Rosamund Pike
I'm quite guarded, yeah. I don't think it behooves us to be unmysterious. There are definitely professions where anonymity is even more valuable. And ours obviously is, you know, not. Anonymity is not sort of requirement number one. But.
David Tennant
But you're right, there's a conflict, isn't there?
Rosamund Pike
I do want people to believe in my characters.
David Tennant
Yes, quite, quite.
Rosamund Pike
You know, so I'm lucky. I've never dated an actor, I suppose.
David Tennant
Right.
Rosamund Pike
So I've never had a relationship that's garnered a lot of press curiosity.
David Tennant
Oh, I see what you mean. Yes. Yes. Because there's that side of prying. The prying.
Rosamund Pike
Yeah. There seems to be. It seems to sort of make a cocktail that the press can't resist trying to snap you.
David Tennant
Mm. You're very good. Cause I've listened to lots of interviews of you and you're very good at talking about the work and the process and the character.
Rosamund Pike
See what I've done already diverted to AI.
David Tennant
I know we're all over the place. It's interesting, but. And I. I sort of commend you for it. But I wonder if that is that instinctive or are you in interview situations? Are you kind of thinking, I'm gonna keep moving or I'm gonna.
Rosamund Pike
Well, also because the best stories of some sort of can't really be reported. And I always think, well, when I'm in my 80s or 90s, like when I'm Judi Dench's age, then I can tell all my naughty stories and.
David Tennant
Oh, so you are story come out.
Rosamund Pike
Oh, yeah.
David Tennant
There is a book. There is a book in you at some point.
Rosamund Pike
Of course.
David Tennant
Yeah. Yes. It's interesting, though, that side of figuring out how you're going to handle. Well, this sort of stuff that we're doing now. I mean, hopefully this doesn't feel like a gauntlet that you have to run but interviews sort of are a bit, aren't they? You have to find a version of yourself that you're comfortable with, that you feel safe with. And nobody really teaches you that.
Rosamund Pike
No. But I also think there's a tremendous arrogance in actors assuming that because we act and because films are in popular culture or theater or television, that somehow we've got a right to talk about our work. You know, if we were investment bankers, we wouldn't go around someone's house probably and start talking about the markets. Whereas we somehow feel that it's okay to start talking about our work because people are, you know, people are by and large interested. But I always feel that shouldn't be an excuse for doing it, you know, that maybe a different conversation is more interesting.
David Tennant
You are very good at it, though. Yeah. You're very good at sort of examining a character. You can quite objectively look at what they are and why they are. And that's all.
Rosamund Pike
Yeah. But it's also so self referential. I do. I do have a problem with. With the general thing of interviewing actors. You know, that. That the beginning of a, you know, the beginning of any kind of long form profile piece. You know, I met David Tennant on a, you know, Sunday morning and, you know, the star arrived, you know, his beanie and his scarf, unraveled his scarf and sat down and ordered himself a flat white. I kind of can't stand it. I can't.
David Tennant
Yes. Are you very aware of that when you're entering the room?
Rosamund Pike
Oh, yeah. I Dr. Be there first or like, you know, have nothing to, you know, the thing that, you know, no sign of the movie star this morning. He's just, you know, wearing a jumper, which I found out later is from M. S, you know, whatever. Whatever it is. And all of that is considered because maybe you knew you would be asked so you didn't want to be wearing a jumper. That sounded expensive.
David Tennant
Yeah.
Rosamund Pike
And I just. Then I get lost in the artifice of everything and I think, oh, God, you know, it's all. Everything casual is planned. And actually today nothing is planned because I did that. I think. Well, actually I had to cancel what I had to do before you because I lost my keys. Oh, no. But, you know, sometimes a crisis can release you to not really give a. Give a. Give a.
David Tennant
You can see what you like on.
Rosamund Pike
This not really give a damn flea.
David Tennant
There you go.
Rosamund Pike
About everything you were hitherto worrying about.
David Tennant
Mm.
Rosamund Pike
I. Yeah. I got thrown out of an Uber today. Yesterday.
David Tennant
What for?
Rosamund Pike
Lots. So the keys. The key loss was not discovered till later. But I hate littering. Right. It's one of my pets. I hate littering.
David Tennant
Because you're a civilized human being.
Rosamund Pike
I often pick up other people's litter.
David Tennant
Well done. I commend you for that.
Rosamund Pike
Store it. My children think it's gross. And then I know it's getting weird. It is quite weird. There are lots of things about me that are quite weird. But there's a sort of paradoxical kind of flouting of my own rules with apple cores. So an apple, which I tend to eat a lot of apples. And I eat most of the apples.
David Tennant
Okay.
Rosamund Pike
So very little apple is left, including the cheese. But not quite down to the seeds, but down to a sort of scrawny bit of apple, maybe with a couple of pips and a stalk is all that we left.
David Tennant
Sure.
Rosamund Pike
And that I'm comfortable releasing back to nature through a car window. In the Uber, I did this. And the driver was not happy and said that he might have his license revoked and cameras would catch him. And I. And I. I could see that it was genuinely bothering him. So I offered, as we were out of traffic lights, to get out of the car and go back and pick up the fragment of apple.
David Tennant
Wow.
Rosamund Pike
So I did. I. I left the car. You can picture it. You can picture how I love it. The car was at traffic lights, so I walked back along. I located the fragment of apple. I felt pleased that it was still there. I picked it up. By the time I got back to the car, he had kicked out my friend who I was traveling with. So she was there with our bags on the pavement because he was incensed by the littering, which, you know, I mean, as a person who is incensed by littering, I understood the sentence.
David Tennant
It was a cruel irony that you were being punished for something that you would never, ever willingly undertake.
Rosamund Pike
And I had the fragment of apple in my hand, Right. And she said no because she said he was reporting us to Uber. So he apparently has. But we have the evidence of the fragment of apple, which I may be able to show you later. But the irony is I must have left the keys in his car.
David Tennant
Oh, my God.
Rosamund Pike
So then you have the crisis of thinking, he knows my address, he has my keys, he clearly hates me. He's gonna come in the dead of night and either try and torment me or just take everything.
David Tennant
And when you have to meet in court in a few months time to defend your Uber rating, it's gonna get really ugly.
Rosamund Pike
I've got a whole series of beef right here. I Could write this could be the origin of season three of Beef. Right. Starting right now over the apple. I mean, my. Do you never. I mean, these things, which are obviously to do with. It's not to do with the apple core. It's to do with whatever else was going on and whatever button I triggered in him.
David Tennant
Of course. Of course.
Rosamund Pike
Those are the things that make human drama.
David Tennant
So you are right. And it's particularly delicious that you are so considerate about what you would throw out that window and that you would. That, you know, a coffee cup or a never in a million years single use plastic you would hold onto for months sometimes until you could responsibly dispose of it.
Rosamund Pike
My partner even found a bag on the stairs. He said he sent me a picture saying, what is this? Is this? And of course it was single use plastic that I was waiting to deal with. And I knew I had to deal with it myself. Otherwise. Otherwise it would definitely go in the wrong place.
David Tennant
I'm so pleased that the world has you.
Rosamund Pike
Oh, dear.
David Tennant
But you may be reversing all the good work you're doing by using AI. Of course, this. Well, we'll find out.
Rosamund Pike
We'll come back to you to check.
David Tennant
No.
Georgia Tennant
This is an advertisement from BetterHelp.
David Tennant
Hi, Georgia.
Georgia Tennant
Hi, David.
David Tennant
You know when you think you're fine and then suddenly you realize that your jaw has been clenched for like three.
Georgia Tennant
Hours straight, or you're lying awake at 3am because your brain's decided that that is the perfect time to replay every awkward thing you've ever said.
David Tennant
Exactly. For a long time, I don't think I really understood that that was anxiety. I thought that was just what it was to be an adult.
Georgia Tennant
You know what gets me? It's that creeping feeling like you're always behind, even when you're doing everything you possibly can.
David Tennant
And then your body goes, oh, well, since you're not listening to me, here's a massive headache and some heartburn.
Georgia Tennant
It's like your brain and your body team up to say, right, let's just shut the whole system down until they get the message.
David Tennant
But we're so used to just getting on with it, aren't we? Like, being stressed is somehow normal.
Georgia Tennant
Yeah, but it doesn't have to be.
David Tennant
No.
Georgia Tennant
Sometimes the best thing you can do is slow down and actually talk to someone.
David Tennant
Therapy can really help with that. Not just in crisis moments, but for learning how to cope, how to set boundaries, how to feel more like yourself again.
Georgia Tennant
85% of BetterHelp therapists specialise in anxiety and 69% of people say their symptoms improved after just six weeks.
David Tennant
That could really make a difference.
Georgia Tennant
Look at you getting all wise every now and again. Alright, here's the important bit.
David Tennant
As the largest online therapy provider in the world, BetterHelp can provide access to mental health professionals with a diverse variety of expert. Get the tools to manage your anxiety with BetterHelp and our listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com Tennant that's betterhelp.com T E N-N-A-N-T if you're.
Unknown
A parent or share a fridge with someone, Instacart is about to make grocery shopping so much easier because with family carts you can share a cart with your partner and each add the items you want. So odds are together you'll remember everything you need and never eat milkless cereal again. Minimize weekly shop stress with family cards. Instacart, we're here. Download the app today. Enjoy. $0 delivery fees on your first 3 orders. Service fees apply for 3 orders in 14 days. Excludes restaurants.
David Tennant
Okay, so give me a little bit of background. Fill in some of the biography.
Rosamund Pike
I'm trying so hard here.
David Tennant
Yeah, yeah, I want to know. Give me a. Tell me a little bit about little Rosamond though. Give us a bit. Let us understand where the person who.
Rosamund Pike
Oh. Started picking up litter.
David Tennant
Picks up litter, comes from. What were you like as a small person?
Rosamund Pike
Quite boyish. Not a very feminine little girl.
David Tennant
Okay.
Rosamund Pike
Quite sort of robust, not sort of fragile. Not as a kind of quite loud voice. Outspoken. Not sort of demure or retiring. Quite sort of robust. I went to school in London. My parents are musicians, so they went to. They're classical singers. They went to the Royal College of Music and they met there, fell in love. My dad used to kick my mom out of her practice room on a Friday and that's where they met. And my dad was living in what became our flat with three guys and when he married my mum, the other two guys moved out, my mum moved in and that's where they still live. I was an only child, so was.
David Tennant
Was childhood bathed in music?
Rosamund Pike
Yes and no. Weirdly, the house was often quite silent because when classical musicians listen to music, it's never background. It's got to be, oh, I see, fully focused. So they would listen under headphones and occasionally I'd enter these worlds where I'd see a set of headphones and I'd put them on and I'd sometimes listen mesmerized to a whole opera.
David Tennant
Wow.
Rosamund Pike
And I can't remember it must have been. I mean, I can't think what devices they were using. I mean, I know my mum, when she was learning operas, would often rent the tapes of the full opera from the library. I think when you'd get sort of six tapes, or maybe it was a Walkman. Headphones.
David Tennant
Yeah, probably.
Rosamund Pike
But then there was always fun adults around, which is something I've tried to foster with my own kids. That was the joy, was that although I didn't have siblings, the friends of my parents were very fun.
David Tennant
Right.
Rosamund Pike
So when people came over, they'd come to play games or they'd come to, you know, they'd have in jokes that I. I didn't understand them all, but I felt that, you know, the thing that you have when you're in a company or, you know, there's a teasing and there's also the sort of mismatch of ages. They never seemed boring, you know, they seemed.
David Tennant
So did you miss having siblings or did that make up for it, or did you not feel the lack?
Rosamund Pike
I did. I've always thought. I've always wondered how I would be different if I'd had siblings. Yeah, I think that. I mean, I think, you know, the kind of teasing and the sort of resilience you have to have with is when you have siblings is obviously totally different from being an only child. But I also liked being an only child. I've always liked being alone. I like having time in my own head and I like not having to share my bedroom.
David Tennant
Right, sure.
Rosamund Pike
You know, still don't like to share my bedroom. Right. I mean, ideally, I think I'd probably still live in my own flat. I mean, that's the dream sometimes, don't.
David Tennant
You think, to have your. I mean, own space? Yeah, yeah. You could visit your family now.
Rosamund Pike
Yes, exactly. Definitely spend a lot of time there. But.
David Tennant
Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, have some little flats to retreat to.
Rosamund Pike
Would be so nice.
David Tennant
That's interesting. Yeah. Virginia Woolf, like, because you were being brought up by artists, do you think you inevitably were going to become one? Did that feel always like a trajectory?
Rosamund Pike
I knew very early on that I wanted to act. I played the cello.
David Tennant
Act, not classical music. Wasn't something.
Rosamund Pike
No. Although I was given the opportunity. I had cello lessons and I was quite a good cellist. And actually during lockdown, I took it up again and felt so grateful.
David Tennant
Did you? Right.
Rosamund Pike
To my parents for giving me that. Because had I wanted to learn the cello now, as an adult, from scratch, I would. It you. It's a losing battle. You can't yeah, but I've got all this natural affinity with the instrument that just stays with you. It just. It's just in you.
David Tennant
Yeah.
Rosamund Pike
It feels completely natural to play the cello. Humbling loss of skill, but it's. And of course there are battles like there are with any child practicing anything that's not there. Did they.
David Tennant
Did they say, no, you're not giving up? Was there a bit of that pushing you on?
Rosamund Pike
No, often the opposite. They say, well, you can give up. Which I think is an interesting. Maybe it's a passive aggressive tactic. The same tactic, yes. And I think as an only child, you definitely want to please. I think that is a pressure on only children, that there's nobody else.
David Tennant
Oh, interesting. So the whole responsibility of your parents. Happiness is on your shoulders.
Rosamund Pike
You kind of can think that. Which of course is not true. As a little one, you can feel a need to please, I think.
David Tennant
Yeah.
Rosamund Pike
So. But anytime I was supposed to perform on the cello, if I could, I would learn a poem and do that instead. A funny poem, usually.
David Tennant
Oh, right. Cause you liked getting the laughs.
Rosamund Pike
Yeah, I did, yeah. You don't get many laughs as a cellist.
David Tennant
No, not a lot of musical gags.
Rosamund Pike
I mean, and it's probably the brass.
David Tennant
Section that are doing the musical gags anyway, isn't it? Absolutely, yeah.
Rosamund Pike
It's funny, isn't it? That response you get. Obviously you get the rapt attention, but you don't get the laugh. I've never thought of it like that. But yes, I liked that. I liked the human language of communication, as opposed to this other language of communication, I suppose.
David Tennant
And you went to boarding school when I was 11. Okay.
Rosamund Pike
Yeah. I got a big scholarship to go to a school in Bristol, which was daunting and exciting. And my mum, I don't know, rightly or wrongly, she really drilled into me, I think, to protect me, and said, you know, everybody there will have more money than us.
David Tennant
Yes. Cause classical singers, presumably, not rich people.
Rosamund Pike
No. And, you know, very kind of the vicissitudes of a performing life. I mean, that's what I. You know, sometimes there would be money, sometimes not at all. There was the famous time my dad came back from Berlin having done a concert and been paid in cash and it was for our rent. And he came back and, you know, went to sort of triumphantly produce the cash on the table and found out he'd been pickpocketed in Berlin station. That was a. So I think there's always been a fear of that. But whether or not I would have noticed at School because we had a uniform. And, you know, whether I would have noticed this discrepancy that my mum drilled into me, I don't know. But it certainly made me very wary and vigilant. And for ages, I didn't invite anyone to come home because I felt ashamed, I thought. And of course, wrongly, because, you know, what I had at home was this wonderful creative vibrancy. But I just thought, oh, on a material level, it's going to be embarrassing or whatever.
David Tennant
So did that make you kind of guarded at school?
Rosamund Pike
Very guarded, I think, yeah.
David Tennant
Did you. But did you have a social circle or did you.
Rosamund Pike
I had no friends, David. No, no, no. I deserve some friends.
David Tennant
Okay. You said that very convincingly.
Rosamund Pike
No, I did have friends, but I knew I wanted to act. And as soon as I could, I joined. I found access to this place called Bristol Youth Theater, which was run by a phenomenal woman called Sally Noble, who. Anytime I've ever met an adult in my childhood who taught me with the kind of respect and seriousness with which an adult deals with something. You know, if you play tennis and you have a instructor who's a proper coach who, you know, disciplines you and takes it fully seriously, that's a tremendous reward as a child, I think, rather than someone who just lets you sort of idly hit a ball. And the same when you have someone in theater who dignifies you with the potential to understand, you know, big emotions or, you know, this one teacher gave me sort of King Lear to do the bit of Cordelia when I was 11. And of course, I was too young, but I glimpsed something that I wanted to be able to feel, and I glimpsed something that was within reach. And the fact that she felt that it could be within reach, that was very rewarding and exciting to me. So whenever I could be associated or feel that energy, it was the same thing that I saw with my parents. I wanted it.
David Tennant
Right.
Rosamund Pike
And then I joined the National Youth Theatre, and that's where I really found my true friends.
David Tennant
Right. Because the National Youth Theatre, for those who don't know, it's for young people. But it's run to quite a professional level. Right. I mean, it's quite. It's got a. It has aspirations. It will often play the West End, it will often play sort of runs in proper theaters and must feel, I imagine, as a young person, quite posh. Quite like you're playing with the big boys.
Rosamund Pike
Yeah. And it's in London, and they. You're not eligible to be in any production until you've Done the course and done. You know that, that wonderful thing where you're part of a company and you're playing silly games which all have a point, of course.
David Tennant
Yeah.
Rosamund Pike
They're all to make you lose your inhibitions.
David Tennant
Yes.
Rosamund Pike
You know, and I remember playing those games and thinking, my God, this is so brilliant because, you know, you do feel like an idiot. But it's okay to feel like an idiot.
David Tennant
Right.
Rosamund Pike
As a teenager, that's just such a good lesson. When everyone's. And I remember trying to take them back to school, you know, and get people to do these things. And of course no one wants to sort of lose their cool and play those games. No one.
David Tennant
Were you quite happy with losing your cool?
Rosamund Pike
Yeah, I didn't think I had any cool to start with. So the idea that you could legitimately do something that didn't require cool, that was ideal.
David Tennant
Yes. The less cool the better.
Rosamund Pike
No, I think cool was a sort of mystifying realm of. I just think I never had the right thing. I mean, that was another thing of my childhood. I never had the right thing, never had the right shoes, never had the right clothes, you know. Did you?
David Tennant
No. Well, I had an older brother, so.
Rosamund Pike
Ah, so you had a.
David Tennant
Every uniform? No, no, the opposite. Cause every uniform I had, he was six years older than me, was six years out of date. So the lapels and the blazer were always much wider than the currently would fashionably be. The, you know, the sort of everything, nothing quite fitted me. It was all a little bit second hand.
Rosamund Pike
What about with sneakers or things? What mattered when you were at school? What was some item that mattered?
David Tennant
I maybe like you're describing on yourself. I never felt cool. So I was never, I never felt like in a way it allowed me not to compete. Cause I thought I'm not one of the cool kids. So you can, I can never aspire to be. So it's probably easier to just accept that I'm one of the sort of dweeby kids and that's okay.
Rosamund Pike
But can you remember the feeling of being the one without. Like when I had my first pair of trainers and the ones that we, you know, that we, my dad and I bought them. And the ones that were on sale, which were clearly the ones that I was gonna have, right. Had Velcro instead of laces. I mean, it was mortifying. But I'd never told my dad. He'll hear it now for the first time.
David Tennant
Oh, well.
Rosamund Pike
But Velcro, no one wanted Velcro at.
David Tennant
That point until maybe six months later that's all he wanted. Yes, I suppose I never really felt like I was competing anyway. I felt like I'm sort of. I'm so far behind that particular thing that I'll just. I'll stick with my little gang of slightly oddbod friends and we won't worry about being not one of the cool kids. And that was my way through it. I don't know how healthy that is either, though, really. Just feeling that I will always be second best.
Rosamund Pike
No, you've got your strong gang. That's all you need. That's all you ever need.
David Tennant
And then you describe with National Youth Theater, one year, they don't. Now, correct me if I get the story wrong, but one year they don't ask you back. And then somebody drops out and then you get a phone call to come and play Juliet. Is that right?
Rosamund Pike
Yeah, that's right. That's right. I'd finished my A levels. I'd Going back to London. I was temping and I'd auditioned for the age are, you know, 18.
David Tennant
Right.
Rosamund Pike
I'd. I'd joined a temping agency where you just go to, you know, you're called in by the day to either go and pack boxes or sit on a reception desk of somewhere or, you know, maybe do a bit of typing. And I hadn't got into the youth theater company that year. I'd done a play the year before, and there I was in Office Angels in Victoria because the actual temp, ironically, was needed in their office, sending out other temps.
David Tennant
Oh, right.
Rosamund Pike
And I got a call there from the National Youth Theatre who'd obviously called my parents or called my home number. And the girl who was playing Juliet, who was Kate Winslet's little sister.
David Tennant
Wow.
Rosamund Pike
Had got a job on television and couldn't do it.
David Tennant
Right.
Rosamund Pike
So I was offered Juliet, which was probably still the most exciting phone call I have ever got.
David Tennant
That is a lot.
Rosamund Pike
It was a huge deal. It was huge. I mean, it was a complete. I didn't know it would change my life in terms of that being the time when I met my agent and all of that. I just knew I couldn't believe I was gonna get to spend a summer exploring Romeo and Juliet and living as Juliet.
David Tennant
Yeah. And were there other people in that production who also went on to be actors? I mean, Paul ready?
Rosamund Pike
Was my brilliant Romeo.
David Tennant
Was he?
Rosamund Pike
Yeah. Oh, yeah, Brilliant. Currently in Motherland. Yes. Being brilliant. Yeah. There's an actor called Neil Newbon. Was Tybalt.
David Tennant
Was it a good production? Could you. Were you.
Rosamund Pike
It was directed by Gwenda Hughes, who'd been the artistic director of Stoke on Trent. So again, it was at a professional level. I think my Juliet was described by the press as Julie Andrews, like which I always wondered whether that wasn't a deal for Juliet. No, I thought it was. Wasn't quite what I was going for.
David Tennant
She's had a very successful career.
Rosamund Pike
Yeah, but you are in a show that's. That's reviewed and that's where agents come and.
David Tennant
Yeah. And so you got an agent from that.
Rosamund Pike
From that.
David Tennant
At 18.
Rosamund Pike
Yeah.
David Tennant
But you didn't go to drama school.
Rosamund Pike
No, was that. I went to university. I was always going to university.
David Tennant
You're always going to university?
Rosamund Pike
Yeah.
David Tennant
And why? Because you. That's how you.
Rosamund Pike
Because I thought I should be a bit older before I tried to go to drama school.
David Tennant
Okay.
Rosamund Pike
I thought because I'd been at this girls school and I hadn't been, I thought I needed to kind of love a bit and live a bit.
David Tennant
Oh, did you feel a bit green?
Rosamund Pike
I felt a bit green.
David Tennant
And where are you? Were you quite an innocent still?
Rosamund Pike
Yeah, I think so.
David Tennant
Right.
Rosamund Pike
And I think I needed to live some my wild years, you know, which I might or might not find at university, but I'd have a go.
David Tennant
And did you?
Rosamund Pike
Yeah.
David Tennant
Okay.
Rosamund Pike
Yeah, Yeah. I think university is a great playground. And. And then I did try to go to drama school later and got rejected from everywhere.
David Tennant
Extraordinary.
Rosamund Pike
Which is. That was your cue. You were a little slow on your.
David Tennant
I'm so sorry. I was just letting the audience take that in.
Rosamund Pike
But there's nothing like a fuck off to be galvanizing. I mean, I really. Still, I believe that. I think it was a real turning point of being told, you know, you can't do this, and some voice in you saying, yes, but this is what I am. And that can't be taken away. Cause I don't think acting was ever something I wanted to do. I don't know how you feel. I think it was just a deep knowledge that it was what I was, what I am.
David Tennant
Right. Okay.
Rosamund Pike
Do you feel that? No.
David Tennant
It's quite an existential question, isn't it? Sort of. It's quite chicken in the egg, I guess. I'm not. I don't. What do I think? I certainly can't. I could never imagine another version of what I was going to do. But I suppose if it hadn't happened, maybe I would. I mean, I don't know how long I'd have hung on.
Rosamund Pike
Yeah, that's. That's. That's the Question.
David Tennant
Yeah, but.
Rosamund Pike
Yeah, that is.
David Tennant
But getting turned down by the drama schools didn't. That didn't make you doubt yourself. That just made you go, well, fuck you. Here we go.
Rosamund Pike
It didn't make me really say fuck you. It was more. It was more like I had a sort of secret that I thought, well, I'm gonna just do it anyway and find my own way. Because I didn't really have the confidence to, you know, to be aggressive or feel that angry because I thought they were probably right, you know, to not have me or whatever. I didn't think, oh, well, you're wrong and you're fools. I thought they were probably right and that, you know, whatever the thing that I was lacking, I must be lacking.
David Tennant
There was enough self doubt to torture yourself with.
Rosamund Pike
Oh, yes, plenty of self doubt to torture myself with. But still the knowledge that being an actor is what I am and there's a safety, I feel, you know, my worst nightmare. Often people see what you do at the baftas. Absolutely no way could I do that in a million years.
David Tennant
I don't believe that.
Rosamund Pike
No way. People assume I'd be quite good at that. So as long as I get asked to present and now I never, ever, ever present. Not I don't get asked to present like you do, but I'll get asked to present an award, best ceremony. And there was a wonderful thing happened about 2010 when Dominic Cooper and I were doing it and I. It's a simple job, you know, it's very hard to get it wrong. And I got it wrong. I opened the envelope before having read out the nominees and I remember coming off and Tom Ford, who was nominated that year, and is this. He's so exquisite, Tom Ford and very, very nice and, but so sort of pristine. And I came off stage and he gave me such a sort of a kind of. I can't really describe his look, but it was pitying, I think. And I remember thinking, you know, what you don't understand is that this is actually brilliant because I'm never ever going to be asked to do this again.
David Tennant
And I'm fine with that.
Rosamund Pike
And I'm totally fine with that.
David Tennant
Right. And what is it about that?
Rosamund Pike
Because being me, I can't. Unless you. I can't bear it. I can do it like this, but I can't bear it. And I get stage fright and I get. I feel a fool and I don't want to be there and yet you give me a character and I feel I'm totally free.
David Tennant
Yeah.
Rosamund Pike
And I think I felt like that, as soon as I, you know, if you can enter a room with a company of actors and you know who you're playing, you're fine, right? You've got there, you've got the other person with you all the time, you've got your best friend, you've got a friend like the other person who's living in, but the person's inside you.
David Tennant
Yeah, Interesting.
Unknown
It's that time of year when I literally have Nothing to wear. 30% off all Abercrombie dresses came at the perfect time. When I hear the words all dresses, I know I need to fill my cart. And the anf mila dress is at the top of my list. Use code Spotify AF at checkout for an extra 15% off almost everything through April 14, 2025 in stores and online in U S and Canada. Exclusions apply. See details online. 30 off all dresses is valid in stores and online through April 14, 2025 in U S and Canada. Excludes clearance online. Price reflects discount.
David Tennant
I mean, the thing that probably banished too many self doubts was quite early on, you were famously cast as a Bond girl, weren't you?
Rosamund Pike
Banished some self doubts? Are you joking?
David Tennant
Well, I don't mean ban, but no, of course not, because self doubt is our end user.
Rosamund Pike
I had never seen going back to the childhood, I was the child who was taken away from a sleepover because they were going to watch a Bond film. Why?
David Tennant
Because it was seen as too adult by your parents.
Rosamund Pike
This is why I needed to have my wild years, because I was incredibly over protective. So although they were very bohemian and very, you know, they were very creative, they were very, very protective and fearful. So I had never seen a Bond film at the time that I was.
David Tennant
Ladies were kissed in those, in those films.
Rosamund Pike
Well, I mean there was even a sort of inference of sex.
David Tennant
There'd be one or two. Yes, yes.
Rosamund Pike
And some innuendo and all kinds of, I mean, once that can of worms is open, I mean, right. Where would a young wayward imagination go?
David Tennant
Yes. Well then what was it like to suddenly be cast as a bon. How did they feel about that?
Rosamund Pike
Well, I took my mother's concert dress to the audition because, you know, that was our idea of an evening dress, a nice 80s, you know, roughly dress. Beautiful, beautiful. It was silk taffeta, big roses on it, and Jacqueline Duran, who was Lindy Hemings, who was the costume designer, Jacqueline Duran now, you know, multiple Oscar winning costume designer herself was her assistant and she was very sweetly looked at me and she said, well that is a Very, very lovely dress. But Bond girls wear things more like this.
David Tennant
Right.
Rosamund Pike
And she brought out three pieces of string.
David Tennant
This is for the audition.
Rosamund Pike
This is for the audition. You know, some shimmering. She. No, I mean, this is what I mean. I was so unaware.
David Tennant
Right.
Rosamund Pike
And then you're plunged onto a world stage and you're made to look like you're incredibly sophisticated.
David Tennant
Sure.
Rosamund Pike
And my character looked like she was 30 when I was 21.
David Tennant
Yes, well, quite. You were 21. Right?
Rosamund Pike
22, maybe.
David Tennant
And you're cast opposite. I mean, Pierce Brosnan, who's 52.
Rosamund Pike
Yes.
David Tennant
I mean, that's.
Rosamund Pike
I mean, he was.
David Tennant
He's still one of the best looking men on earth. But that's a lot.
Rosamund Pike
It's quite a gap, isn't it?
David Tennant
If you're a young innocent and you're having to play this kind of seductress.
Rosamund Pike
Oh, God. I mean, it's just, you know, you can laugh about it now, but it's. The plunge is quite extreme.
David Tennant
I mean, that is a baptism of fire on a bit, isn't it, on a global scale?
Rosamund Pike
I mean, if. Yeah.
David Tennant
What was the ratio of exciting to. This is ghastly. And I want to.
Rosamund Pike
No, I mean, it was incredibly exciting. I mean, there was the time when we were doing the love scene and obviously I discovered things like, you know, nipple covers and.
David Tennant
Right.
Rosamund Pike
You know, all the taping that you have. And we were in the Ice Palace. Our film was Die Another Day, set in.
David Tennant
Yes, of course. Yes.
Rosamund Pike
The Ice palace in Iceland. It was actually set in Iceland, although we were in Pinewood. And there was a bed, a sculpture of a swan, which was the bed, and it was covered in furs. And we had this. I had to sort of undress, drop the dress, and then Pierce Brosnan, older.
David Tennant
Than your dad, is on the other side of the room.
Rosamund Pike
Exactly, exactly. I didn't even think about that. You were absolutely right, of course. Yeah. And we.
David Tennant
Although an absolute gent, I'm assuming.
Rosamund Pike
Absolute gent. I mean, he's. Couldn't have been. Couldn't have been more supportive or kind. But anyway, we have this clinch and then we separate and I look at this body tape and the nipple covers and they're covered in hair. And I think, oh, my God, I'm waxing Pierce's chest. And I was so mortified. I thought, oh, my God, he's so brave. And I'm pulling off his chest hair with every embrace. And of course, it took a couple of takes to realise it was not him, it was the fake fur of the rugs. Adorning the swan bed.
David Tennant
Right.
Rosamund Pike
I literally thought I was waxing the poor man's chest.
David Tennant
He's quite a hirsute man, I guess, isn't he?
Rosamund Pike
I guess Bond is Pierce, who knows? But Bond, yeah, Bond was her suit.
David Tennant
I don't think he was with Daniel Craig. Played it. No.
Rosamund Pike
No. Maybe in general. In general, not so much now. So, anyway. But it was definitely a magic carpet of an experience and. But there's no introduction to film acting or, you know, someone holding you by the hand and saying, helping. No help to be better, or, you know, I feel I didn't really get my masterclass in how to do it until I worked with David Fincher. Probably.
David Tennant
I want to come on to him.
Rosamund Pike
Which is right after we worked.
David Tennant
Well, that's what. Yes. So, well, just to skip on a bit, then. So, Diane, another day launches you and you're then very quickly part of the sort of British film industry. You do.
Rosamund Pike
Well, I think you've got fame but no respect.
David Tennant
But you get it pretty quickly. I mean, you do a bunch of pretty classy stuff, don't you? Yeah. Pride and Prejudice and Education, Johnny English, all sort of good fun. You're with Tom Cruise and Reacher. You do big, you know, so you're doing classy indie British films, you're doing big old blockbusters. And then when we work together, I.
Rosamund Pike
Just get the heebie jeebies. When you say all this, do you know that I'm just saying I just sort of feel. Oh, it's all bollocks. I just. I know it's not, but I just feel a bit squirmy.
David Tennant
But it feels like it's happened to someone else. Does it?
Rosamund Pike
Yeah.
David Tennant
Right.
Rosamund Pike
Or how it perceives, how it's perceived from the outside. Just sounds totally different from the feeling anyway.
David Tennant
No, because. What's the feeling?
Rosamund Pike
Oh, the feeling is. Well, when it's sort of coded in this idea that it's somehow, I don't know, a kind of elegant process or a sort of, you know, carefully crafted. It all just still feels like you're having a stab and, you know, failing again, failing better. And I can't describe it, I can't describe it now. I make choices now. I do. I am thinking of a story in terms of what I do and what I want to put out there. But then you're just taking what you get.
David Tennant
Sure. But what you are getting is quite posh stuff, I suppose. I suppose that's the objective view. You're doing very well, then. We work together and we're Filming up in the Highlands of Scotland. And we're having a very lovely time. Film called what we did in Our Holidays with the Great Billy Conley. The great Billy Conley.
Rosamund Pike
I just think I didn't talk to him enough while we were filming.
David Tennant
Did you? I couldn't look him in the eye for a week. I was so starstruck. But then once I did, he was just everything you hoped he would be. He was kind, he was funny, he was his public Persona. It feels very close to his private Persona, which I suspect is the secret of his success. Maybe. Cause he just channels something magical, doesn't he?
Rosamund Pike
It's so magical and it's so present and quiet and this sort of wry, humorous look at everything that nothing is going to be. Well, I know they say that comedians are. A lot of comedians are dark and troubled, but the feeling and whether. So whether there's a Persona that's existing while you're with them. But it felt like you're just having someone gently tapping you in the arm saying, it's not all that serious.
David Tennant
Yes, yes, yes.
Rosamund Pike
It's a great lesson, you know, just remember we can look at the. Yeah, look at the other side. Yeah, flip it over.
David Tennant
Yeah. So we're having a very lovely time making that film. But I remember one morning over breakfast in a little Highland hotel, you say to me, you've just been on a top secret trip to St. Louis. Don't tell anyone. Cause there'd been something on the Monday morning about, oh, Rosamund's gonna be a bit late, she's got a toothache or something. We're like, oh, okay, you'd been in Glasgow and you had to go to the emergency dentist. Fine, all right. So you came to work slightly late that day. I think we all just got on with it. And then maybe the next day or the day after, I remember over breakfast you went, that's not. I didn't have a toothache. I went to St. Louis at the weekend. Which of course not something you could have admitted to a functioning film unit. Because if you'd been stuck there, I mean, cancelling a day's filming. So what happened?
Rosamund Pike
David Fincher had, at the beginning of that film, he had asked to Skype with me about an unknown project. And he. Skyping from the cottage I was renting outside Glasgow was incredibly difficult. It was pixelated, kept freezing. I looked like a kind of Edward Mung painting.
David Tennant
I mean, you used to do that all the time. I mean, we are talking 11 years ago or something, aren't we?
Rosamund Pike
Yeah, yeah. True. But he wanted to talk to me about a project called Gone Girl. And I had not read the book, but I had heard of it. It was in the Zeitgeist. And he said, great, that's great. Start reading it now and we'll check in in a few days. So I started reading, I got through some of it, and then we spoke again. And he said, what are your thoughts? What are you thinking? And then we carried on talking. And then I think he might have said, I want you to come to St. Louis.
David Tennant
Right. And you thought, I cannot meet the highest.
Rosamund Pike
I need to meet you. And I said, I'm filming. And then I thought, I cannot tell my agents this because they're never gonna get me out of the film. They're not gonna be able to do it. And they get the worry of trying to do it. The film is definitely gonna say no. I thought, I'm just gonna have to do it. There was one flight a day and it got in at 7:40. And my call time, my pickup was 7:30.
David Tennant
Right.
Rosamund Pike
And I was checking, you know, the weekly reports on that flight and how often it was late. Basically it was late once a week, but it was pretty much on time.
David Tennant
Yeah.
Rosamund Pike
And I did it how? And I had a kind of whole elaborate thing that when the driver came to pick me up, the nanny who was looking after my child would say, roby, that's my partner, has had to take her to the emergency room. She's had a terrible explosion of a toothache. I'd started to prep the toothache on the Thursday before just by doing a bit of sort of, oh, I think something's going. Sorry. I think there's something a bit odd. Maybe it's my wisdom tooth coming. So our nanny was ready to say to the driver that. So he should go to the emergency room or he should just go to set. And Roby would bring me from the emergency room to set.
David Tennant
Right.
Rosamund Pike
Whereas meanwhile, Robie had driven hell for Leather to Glasgow airport to meet the flight and get me to set.
David Tennant
Yeah.
Rosamund Pike
And we were only about an hour late, I think.
David Tennant
Yeah, you were. I mean, it all went like clockwork. How tense were you about all that? Or did you just think this is worth the risk?
Rosamund Pike
It was worth the risk. And I get very het up on the. I sweat the small stuff.
David Tennant
Right.
Rosamund Pike
And when there's, like a massive crisis, I'm excellent.
David Tennant
Right, Right.
Rosamund Pike
I would sort of categorise this on the big crisis levels.
David Tennant
Had you watched your game? Did you have a game plan for if I miss a Flight. You didn't know. There was no plan B.
Rosamund Pike
There was no plan B. That's how I am in life, though. There's no plan B.
David Tennant
Right. Right. Well, we can now tell this story. Because it was all fine and it all works out. You were right to do it because Gone Girl is a massive, massive thing. David Fincher, well, you've already mentioned he's known to be quite tough, quite meticulous. What was your experience working with him?
Rosamund Pike
It's just working with a master filmmaker. Who leaves nothing to chance. And doesn't even really trust an actor's instinct. I asked him whether he ever uses take one. He just said, never.
David Tennant
Wow.
Rosamund Pike
You know, as if an actor could have an idea that would work for me. But it's the control. And I had so much time on camera. Because he spends all the budget on days of filming. We shot for 105 days. So if you shoot a film like that with a small unit for 105 days. And it's a character drama, really, you spend a lot of time on camera. And that's when I started to understand film acting, really. Because of the direction he gave. The way he'd put left of field thoughts in your head. The way he'd sort of let you. He was very precise over certain things. Rhythm, movement, how smooth things were, the getting in and out of a car. And it's changed the way I think about physicality on screen now.
David Tennant
Right.
Rosamund Pike
I can often hear his voice in my ear saying, smoother. Smoother is often a friend. You know, Amy was so such a teacher because she was such a. Obviously, she was diabolical and manipulative and all that. But she also. She was an actress who acted so many versions of being a woman. You could be sweet and seductive. You could be cold as ice. You could be girlish. You could be, you know, falsely sentimental. You could be grieving. You could be charming. You could be. She was all of it. And of course, she was playing up to the press in a way that has now become. We see it all the time now. You know, we now see people building their profile and, you know, editing their lives and. But she was doing it before, you know, she worked out that the press loves pregnant women.
David Tennant
Right.
Rosamund Pike
You know, so she's going to. When she disappears, she's gonna orchestrate it. That, you know, Amy Dunne not only has disappeared, but she was pregnant, you know.
David Tennant
Yeah.
Rosamund Pike
She knew she'd go right into the hearts of America. And now, you know, look at all the baby showers and the opening of envelopes on Social media and, you know, America still loves pregnant women. So it was astonishing. It was an astonishing thing to do.
David Tennant
And you met the moment of it, and you were brilliant in it. You get nominated for an Academy Award. That it is that. I've heard other people talk about that as a sort of an experience that's kind of out with anything else in our industry, because it's a bit like running for president or something. There's an expectation on you to kind of get involved in a world of campaigning. I mean, what does that feel like? And how comfortable were you with all that?
Rosamund Pike
You're right. And I realized afterwards that it was a game that I could have played to win, but I didn't know that at the time.
David Tennant
Oh, right.
Rosamund Pike
And I just had a baby, so I didn't actually do any of the, quote, unquote campaigning to get the nominations, which I have done for other projects since and not got any nominations. You know, I now know it's funny. You know, there may be a lesson. Exactly. And, you know, so I know that it can be done without that whole jamboree, because I didn't do it. But if you're in a film that's hit the zeitgeist, it's a film that's hit the zeitgeist. But the surreal nature of the whole thing anyway was amplified by having a nursing child who was four weeks old. And every dress I chose had to accommodate breast milk pads.
David Tennant
Right.
Rosamund Pike
And I would have to have these assignations with my son in a car or backstage at whatever event we were at. I mean, I was at the BAFTAs, and I was in the office of the chairman of the Royal Opera House, you know, with dress completely down, two bottles on my nipples. I mean, I've got a photo one day if he, you know, they ever asked to see it, I can deliver the evidence. But, you know, and so the backstage story was so funny. So funny, you know, and the thing is, you know, the Oscars and stuff are full of sentimental tales. People getting emotional. And when you're a new mum, anytime you get someone who's in need or emotion, you know, your breasts start producing milk. It's a real problem, right? So I'm sitting in the audience saying, oh, God, oh, no. The person's getting emotional. Oh, no, I'm gonna leak. Oh, God. You know, so this. And nobody talks about. I don't think I've ever talked about this.
David Tennant
I think that's a brilliant thing to share.
Rosamund Pike
Nobody is thinking about that. So not only do you have all the Sort of stuff on you as a woman, anyway, that, you know, wearing these amazing dresses. Yes. It's truly incredible to have the privilege to wear couture and. But it's also a hell of a responsibility. You have to travel in a car. When you get out, it's creased and you think, oh, someone has spent thousands of pounds making this dress. And now I've sat in a car for an hour and the whole thing's creased. What do you do? You know, there's all these little things. But that time I was like, I'm here. I've shown up. I've got a baby who's asleep. I am killing it.
David Tennant
Yeah, I'm killing it. Yeah.
Rosamund Pike
But also, your breasts are changing size. Sorry to be talking about breasts a lot. And you've got five kids, and I know your wife, so I feel it's fine. They're changing size, you know, so you. Making a dress is not easy.
David Tennant
Of course.
Rosamund Pike
Not easy at all.
David Tennant
You need. Yes. Your lead time has to be minutes.
Rosamund Pike
Yeah, yeah. And, you know, so sometimes, you know, it's measured and you were, you know, full of milk, and then you're on the red carpet and you're empty of milk and the whole dress is sagging.
David Tennant
Right.
Rosamund Pike
As happened at the Golden Globes, but that's another story. So. But basically, I didn't really give a damn about any of that. So I didn't give a damn about how I looked, but I just thought it was a marvel that I was there and that my child was healthy.
David Tennant
Yeah.
Rosamund Pike
And I had these backstage assignations with pumping machines and children and, you know, all the food that I could get into my body.
David Tennant
Yes.
Rosamund Pike
To keep the production line going.
David Tennant
That's exactly as it should be.
Rosamund Pike
Of course it is. But after the whole thing was over, I realized, Yes, I see this is a sort of political game. But I've never been very comfortable with. I don't know. Doesn't it make you squirm a bit if somebody says that performance was amazing? Yeah. Well, can I tell you why it was so amazing? It's because I had to, you know, really put myself through the wringer. And, you know, the depths that I had to plumb was just so, you know, it was. I can't really talk about it. I'm sorry. You know, I can't. And often it's the truth. The weird thing is, often it's also the truth.
David Tennant
Oh, sure, of course.
Rosamund Pike
You know, to do something that turns out on screen to affect people, often you have had to put yourself through the wringer or whatever. But should you talk about it? I still don't know the answer.
David Tennant
Yeah, well, an excellent perspective to have two little boys who actually were much more important than anything else through that time. Cause it allows everything to be seen for what it is, doesn't it?
Rosamund Pike
Yes.
David Tennant
Which doesn't diminish how exciting it is and how amazing these things are, and.
Rosamund Pike
That it probably will never happen again. And that was that. That was the glimpse into the thing. You know, it's like anything that you've probably. You know, you probably lived through the whole Doctor who experience. And now in retrospect, I'm sure now, Right. You'd probably look back and you think, oh, my God. And yet when you're in it, you're doing it, you're living it, you're. And then you think, I've played this character that is indelible in the public imagination and will always be and means this and this and this to all these people. But you can't really ever get a perspective on it until it's gone.
David Tennant
Well, interestingly.
Rosamund Pike
Or can you?
David Tennant
You are. Well, let me ask you, because you are in the midst of playing one of those characters. Aren't we? Maureen Dameron. Did I say that right?
Rosamund Pike
Not like Doctor who.
David Tennant
Oh, listen, the Wheel of Time has a lot of fans. It's a big show for a lot of people. And you've just. The third season has just been released. Right.
Rosamund Pike
The third season has just been released, finally. To the sort of raised arms and love of the fandom. Yeah, our third season has hit it.
David Tennant
Yeah. Yeah.
Rosamund Pike
And our first two, they criticized us, you know, in a way that's healthy and keeps a dialogue open with fans. They loved some things, they hated others. And this third season, they're like, this is our show.
David Tennant
Oh, interesting.
Rosamund Pike
And it's very exciting.
David Tennant
You mean those who'd come from the books?
Rosamund Pike
Yeah, those who come from the books.
David Tennant
Sorry, who were the Legacy.
Rosamund Pike
It's a 14 book series that has a huge readership.
David Tennant
Right. Yes. Yes.
Rosamund Pike
Yep.
David Tennant
This must be the longest time you've spent with a single character. Is it?
Rosamund Pike
Yes, it is.
David Tennant
How are you enjoying that?
Rosamund Pike
I've really enjoyed it. Because, of course, as you've probably found, the character changes. What their concerns are, season to season are completely different. So. And you're always searching to bring. And there are certain quintessential, you know, character tropes or whatever, the things that people love them for that is obviously a key part of who they are. But there's. I don't get bored of it, if that's the question.
David Tennant
It's not. No. It's interesting because it's. I think it's the first time you've done sort of multiple series of one character. It is a slightly different job, isn't it?
Rosamund Pike
And I was ready to enter the fantasy world because I had two real people in. I played a war correspondent for the Sunday Times called Marie Colvin. And I played Marie Curie. Both of whom had. Were amazing, strong, clever forces of nature, but also quite troubled. And I made the mistake of playing them back to back. And that left me a bit troubled.
David Tennant
Right.
Rosamund Pike
And a bit. It. Actually. My whole system shut down in a quite a scary way.
David Tennant
Right.
Rosamund Pike
Which can happen because the body just thinks I can't take any more of whatever the chemical cocktail you're asking it to produce.
David Tennant
You trick it with trauma.
Rosamund Pike
You do trick it with trauma.
David Tennant
That it begins to feel the trauma. Yeah.
Rosamund Pike
And it shut down. And I thought, oh, my God, I've got me or something. I thought, something is really. I'm never gonna get my vitality back. And I did. But I thought fantasy seemed like a nice invitation, you know, to step somewhere. The opposite of reality.
David Tennant
Yeah.
Rosamund Pike
And I thought, four years of playing a sorceress with magical powers. Yes. I like the sound of that very much.
David Tennant
Yeah. Is that something you could imagine continuing with?
Rosamund Pike
I would love. I hope to goodness we get a pickup for another season. I think it's. You know, it's a huge commitment. It's eight months of the year. It's. I moved my whole life to Prague for it. We've had, as a family, a very exciting adventure in the middle of Europe where you can drive to Italy or drive to Germany, drive to Poland, you know, that's for people who live on an island. It's a nice feeling. And also meeting the Czech sense of humor and. And, you know, artistically, Czech Republic is super interesting. One for music. Cause I picked up the cello there again. Two for cinema. The Czech New wave was one of the cool new waves of cinema. And knowing now the Czech humor, you can see where it comes from. And the show is just. We're a family now. Especially the young cast have been amazing role models for my children. I suppose from the Wheel of Time cast, they've got a bit of what I got from my parents, friends, that sort of game playing. Coming round for a hang and a laugh and playing silly games.
David Tennant
That's nice.
Rosamund Pike
Yeah.
David Tennant
Because interestingly, it hadn't stopped you doing other things. And I recently got to see you working on set in another film, in a film called Ladies first, because my kid Wilfred plays your kid in the.
Rosamund Pike
Movie and that I didn't know if you were gonna mention it or if we were allowed to talk about that.
David Tennant
I had to check. But we are allowed to mention it. I checked with Netflix, and they're very happy for her to be a mention, which was. Which was lovely for me to be on the other side of.
Rosamund Pike
Of course, it was very surreal to see you sitting on the stairs trying to pretend you weren't there.
David Tennant
Trying to not. Yes. Just be there in case Wilfred needed anything.
Rosamund Pike
Yeah. It's nice, isn't it, Just how much.
David Tennant
You feel about it.
Rosamund Pike
Wilfred gave so much to that. I mean, it was thanks to Wilfred. I told them afterwards that it was really thanks to Wilfrid because I came onto the film pretty late, without the prep time that I'd normally have. And it was the scenes with Wilfred that. That allowed me to find the character, my character. Because with Wilfred, we managed to create this mother child thing that made the whole thing come alive. Wow.
David Tennant
It was a wonderful experience.
Rosamund Pike
It was very exciting. And I just spoke to Thea the other day, our director, and who's in the edit, and obviously I haven't seen anything. And I said, how's Wilfred? And Thea just said, magical.
David Tennant
She was very lovely with Wilfred in particular. But it was a lovely set. It was a lovely set to visit in a slightly different capacity and.
Rosamund Pike
Yeah. And fun to do a comedy.
David Tennant
Yes.
Rosamund Pike
Set in London and be able to sort of, you know, when you romanticize London, the city that I've, you know, I've grown up in, and Sacha Bran Cohn's in it. And he was sort of very skeptical at the beginning. He was saying, you know, how is London ever gonna look romantic? And, you know, you know, why are we doing this in winter when it gets dark so early? And then about halfway through, he said, oh, my goodness. This wet down, you know, because they often wet the streets down to make them glisten. He's like. This wet down is. He said, I reckon this is going to beat California sunshine for kind of magic. And.
David Tennant
Yeah.
Rosamund Pike
You know, and I always. I always think there's a magic to the.
David Tennant
Yeah, the cold.
Rosamund Pike
I was never really a runner. The way I see. Running is a gift, especially when you have stage.
Unknown
Stage four cancer.
Rosamund Pike
I'm Ann. I'm running the Boston Marathon, presented by bank of America.
Unknown
I run for Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
Rosamund Pike
To give people like me a chance.
Unknown
To thrive in life, even with cancer.
Rosamund Pike
Join bank of America in Helping Anne's cause. Give if you can@b of a.comSupportAnn what would you like the power to do? References to charitable organizations is not an endorsement by bank of America Corporation. Copyright 2025.
David Tennant
How will you feel if your boys gravitate towards the arts?
Rosamund Pike
My younger son had a small part in the Wheel of Time, Right. Under incredibly difficult conditions, in shooting in South Africa, where the temperature reached 111Fahrenheit. That's up in the 40s. And it was a. You know, it was hard on everybody. But he did say, no offense, Mum, but that's the last time I ever act.
David Tennant
Brilliant.
Rosamund Pike
Brilliant. But then recently has expressed some curiosity again. So I'm just watching the space. I mean, I don't have any. I certainly would be thrilled if they did, because I think it's a wonderful life. But I also know parents of children who want to act, who are. The parents are successful and the children are less successful. And that's painful, you know, And I think that would. That. That is painful.
David Tennant
What do you feel that, well, if they want to do it, you can't get. You can't stop them, can you? I mean, what are you gonna say? I've done it. But you're not allowed.
Rosamund Pike
No. And also, I think it's the best life. I do think it's an. If it's your calling, it's. It's.
David Tennant
Yeah, yeah.
Rosamund Pike
There's no calling greater. I mean, there are callings greater. Like being a surgeon.
David Tennant
Yes. I'd love them to be doctors and lawyers, but, you know, we are where we are.
Rosamund Pike
Yeah. As long as it's for the right reason. As long as it's not for the trappings. Cause I think the surprising thing, you know, I would have done this whether or not I'd made any money at it. That's the point. I mean, you know, I would have been the struggling actor if I hadn't been the successful one. I would have maintained. I would have carried on. Yes.
David Tennant
Cause you're about to go back into theater, right?
Rosamund Pike
Yes. Think I'm gonna be struggling?
David Tennant
No, not at all. I just mean there's another version where you could have spent your life in rep.
Rosamund Pike
Yes, exactly, exactly. No, I mean, like, I'm terrified of it. I am going back into theatre. I'm doing the. I've been invited to do a play at the national, which, again, probably ranking with the call about Romeo and Juliet was a call that I was surprisingly, deeply, suddenly very emotional about.
David Tennant
Interesting, right? Yeah.
Rosamund Pike
And I got on the call to meet the people from the national and actually found myself bursting into tears because I said, actually, this is a huge, huge moment. And I'm very, very. And then I lost it, excited, because my mother was actually in the Lyttleton when her waters broke with me.
David Tennant
And. Is that where your play's going to be?
Rosamund Pike
Yes.
David Tennant
Oh, that's a brilliant story. Yes.
Rosamund Pike
And funnily enough, there was a space in the Olivier. We lost the original space we had in the Littleton, and they said, oh, there's a space in the Olivier. Do you want to come and see it? So we went. I went with Justin Martin, our director, and we looked at the Olivier, but it was just.
David Tennant
Which is much bigger theater, isn't it?
Rosamund Pike
And it's just you need to have a massive show in there. You need to fill that stage. And I didn't feel that. We didn't feel it was right, so. And then we went to see London Tide at the Lyttleton, and that just felt right.
David Tennant
Right.
Rosamund Pike
And maybe it's right, because that's where it all began.
David Tennant
I think. I think it sounds absolutely perfect.
Rosamund Pike
I'm frightened. I am fright. And sometimes people talk about it, you know, because the national are making announcements, for instance, about the, you know, National Theatre Live and how it'll be in cinemas and it will be able to be seen around the world. And my stomach drops into my feet. I mean, no joke lurches. It's just on it now, and it. It plummets and it's a big thing. It's a. It's not. Because for years now, I've been able to do my performances in small chunks.
David Tennant
Yes, yes. It's all gotta join up in one night.
Rosamund Pike
I know. It's gotta join up. Join up and be coherent. And.
David Tennant
Yeah, scared is good, though, right? A little bit scared.
Rosamund Pike
Yes. Yes. It's an interesting feeling. And I'm playing a judge, and it's a play about mothers and sons and so very close to my heart. And I'm gonna spend a week, next week, in court at the Old Bailey and the Crown Courts, watching trials and seeing. Trying to work out the difference between the judge in court and who the Persona is when the robes are off.
David Tennant
Yeah. It's called inter alia. Right.
Rosamund Pike
Inter alia, among other things, among. In the midst of it all, a bit like a working parent feels, you know.
David Tennant
Yeah.
Rosamund Pike
In the throes of motherhood, work, wifedom, you know, the dynamic between a husband and wife. They're both barristers, they both gained silk, and she's the one who's Called to be a judge, which is actually a pay cut, but a. But a huge nod and huge prestigious honor. Yeah. And what that does to a relationship when. Yeah, all those kind of things.
David Tennant
Yes, Rosamund, I can't wait to see it.
Rosamund Pike
Will you be there?
David Tennant
I'll be there. I won't tell you when, but we will definitely come to see that. Listen, it's been so lovely to have you do this. Thank you for being so open. Do we want to see what Easy to talk to. And let's find out if we are destroying the world by using AI.
Rosamund Pike
Okay, here we go. Every interaction with an LLM, the process known as inference, necessitates computational resources to run the model and generate a response. This computation requires electricity, and while the energy consumed by a single query might appear minimal, the sheer volume of user interactions daily can lead to a substantial cumulative energy demand. Oh, she's being. Well, we assume she's being honest. Maybe she's already minimizing the damage. Do we believe her?
David Tennant
This is becoming one of the ethical queries of our modern times.
Rosamund Pike
But she's not saying no. She's saying it does have an environmental impact. Despite the seemingly small energy cost per query, with hundreds of millions of weekly active users making multiple queries per week, the total annual energy consumption for A widely used LLM like ChatGPT can be quite high, reaching tens of thousands of megawatt hours.
David Tennant
Well, listener, we leave you to make your own decision. Rosamund, thank you so much.
Rosamund Pike
Thanks, David.
David Tennant
David Tennant does a podcast with is a Sony Music Entertainment and no Mystery production produced by Matt Smith. The assistant producer was Rani Prescott. The mix engineer was John Scott. The executive producers are Alex Lawless, Sarah Camlett, and Georgia Tennant. Next time.
Georgia Tennant
This is his podcast, which I am hijacking, or rather temporarily borrowing, so that we can find out a little bit more about him.
Podcast Summary: David Tennant Does a Podcast With Rosamund Pike
Podcast Information:
In this engaging episode of "David Tennant Does a Podcast With…", renowned actor David Tennant engages in a candid and insightful conversation with fellow actress Rosamund Pike. The discussion traverses their personal lives, acting careers, challenges faced in the industry, and contemporary issues such as the ethical implications of artificial intelligence.
Rosamund Pike delves into her upbringing as an only child in London, raised by classical musician parents. She shares anecdotes about her parents' dedication to music and how home often felt silent due to her parents' focused listening habits. This environment fostered Rosamund's early appreciation for music and creativity.
Notable Quote:
Rosamund Pike [21:13]: "The house was often quite silent because when classical musicians listen to music, it's never background. It's got to be fully focused."
Rosamund also reflects on the benefits and drawbacks of being an only child, highlighting her comfort with solitude and the absence of sibling rivalry.
Rosamund recounts her initial foray into acting through the Bristol Youth Theatre and the National Youth Theatre, which proved pivotal in shaping her career. She describes the transformative experience of playing Juliet, which led to her first agent and subsequent opportunities in the film industry.
Notable Quote:
Rosamund Pike [32:50]: "It was a huge deal. I didn't know it would change my life in terms of that being the time when I met my agent and all of that."
Rosamund also discusses her decision to attend university before pursuing drama school, emphasizing the importance of gaining life experience.
The conversation delves into Rosamund's struggles with drama school rejections and the ensuing self-doubt. Despite these setbacks, her unwavering passion for acting propelled her forward.
Notable Quote:
Rosamund Pike [36:13]: "I didn't really have the confidence to be aggressive or feel that angry because I thought they were probably right..."
David Tennant empathizes, highlighting the internal battles actors often face.
Rosamund shares her experiences filming major projects, including her role as a Bond girl in "Die Another Day" alongside Pierce Brosnan. She humorously recounts on-set mishaps, such as mistaking fake fur for chest hair during a scene.
Notable Quote:
Rosamund Pike [42:35]: "I literally thought I was waxing the poor man's chest."
Her portrayal of Amy Dunne in "Gone Girl" is discussed in depth, highlighting the intense preparation and emotional toll it took, especially as a new mother.
Notable Quote:
Rosamund Pike [53:14]: "I have to really put myself through the wringer... it's all about bringing characters to life authentically."
Rosamund candidly discusses the challenges of balancing a demanding acting career with motherhood. She shares anecdotes about managing her child's needs during high-pressure events like the Academy Awards, including logistical juggling and physical discomfort.
Notable Quote:
Rosamund Pike [55:08]: "I was in the office of the chairman of the Royal Opera House with dress completely down, two bottles on my nipples..."
David Tennant relates by mentioning how his own family life intersects with his professional commitments.
Towards the episode's conclusion, David Tennant and Rosamund Pike explore the environmental impact of artificial intelligence. They discuss how computational resources required for AI operations contribute to significant energy consumption and potential ecological concerns.
Notable Quote:
Rosamund Pike [71:56]: "A widely used LLM like ChatGPT can reach tens of thousands of megawatt hours annually."
The discussion raises ethical questions about the sustainability of AI technologies in the modern world.
Rosamund Pike expresses her enthusiasm for returning to theatre, despite the accompanying fears and challenges. She touches upon her upcoming play at the National Theatre, highlighting the emotional and professional significance of this venture.
Notable Quote:
Rosamund Pike [68:05]: "I'm frightened. I am returning to theatre, and it's a play about mothers and sons—very close to my heart."
David Tennant expresses support and anticipation for her future projects, emphasizing the deep bond fostered through their shared experiences in the acting world.
The episode concludes with heartfelt gratitude from both hosts. David Tennant commends Rosamund Pike for her openness and resilience, while Rosamund appreciates the opportunity to discuss her journey in such depth. The conversation seamlessly weaves personal anecdotes with broader societal issues, offering listeners a comprehensive insight into the lives of two distinguished actors.
Notable Highlights:
Key Themes:
This comprehensive summary captures the essence of the podcast episode, highlighting the pivotal discussions between David Tennant and Rosamund Pike. Through personal stories and thoughtful reflections, listeners gain a nuanced understanding of the actors' lives, their craft, and their perspectives on contemporary issues.