Summary

• Rosamund Pike's breakthrough as a "Bond girl" in Die Another Day earned her an Empire Award and helped secure her roles in other big-name productions like Pride & Prejudice.
• Pike's Oscar-nominated turn in Gone Girl has earned her roles in satires, thrillers, and other inventive films.
• TV shows like Wheel of Time give Pike a chance to shine in a new genre, displaying her versatility as an actor.

Given the actor's remarkable versatility and penchant for genre-hopping, it's challenging to determine Rosamund Pike's best movies and TV shows. While Pike started her acting career on the stage, live theater is just one of the performer's many callings. Though it may not be one of her best movies, Die Another Day — the 2002 entry in the long-running James Bond film series — marked Pike's feature-film debut. Despite the 007 flick's failings, her breakthrough as "Bond girl" Miranda Frost earned Pike an Empire Award, and helped her secure roles in other big-name productions, including the 2005 adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice.

A few years later, Rosamund Pike earned awards attention for supporting roles in 2009's Oscar-nominated An Education as well as the following year's Made in Dagenham. With critically acclaimed dramas under her belt, Pike continued to dabble in mainstream blockbusters, appearing in both Wrath of the Titans and the Tom Cruise-starring Jack Reacher. Of course, what really made Rosamund Pike a household name was her Oscar-nominated lead performance in David Fincher's Gone Girl. Since starring in the haunting thriller, Pike has gone on to play more morally complex — and delightfully unhinged or eccentric characters, as seen in her most recent picture, Saltburn.

10 The World’s End

The World's End trades the other entries' zombie tropes and buddy-cop comedy for a much more melancholy, though still comedic, exploration of aging and adulthood.

The third and final installment in the Three Flavors Cornetto trilogy, The World's End follows Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz — stylish, fan-loved comedies from the minds of Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg. The World's End trades the other entries' zombie tropes and buddy-cop comedy for a much more melancholy, though still comedic, exploration of aging and adulthood. In The World's End, a group of friends returns to their hometown to complete a pub crawl they couldn't handle in their youth. Pike plays the quick-witted Sam Chamberlain, one of the guy's sisters; she proves her versatility by effortlessly nailing both the dramatic and comedic elements.

9 A Private War

A biographical war drama, A Private War was one of Rosamund Pike's big post-Gone Girl roles. The film, which is based on a Vanity Fair article entitled "Marie Colvin’s Private War," sees Pike playing Colvin, an American journalist who documents countries' destructive civil wars. When the film opens, viewers come to learn how Colvin lost her eye in an ambush, illustrating her fierce dedication to documenting life-threatening situations, even in the face of post-traumatic stress disorder. A sobering look at a fraught-but-essential line of work, A Private War marks a career-best performance for Rosamund Pike, who earned a Golden Globe nomination for her role.

8 Fracture

One of Pike's early-career roles sees her sharing the screen with fellow Oscar-nominated actor Ryan Gosling and Academy Award-winning legend Sir Anthony Hopkins. A psychological legal crime thriller, Fracture certainly has shades of Fincher's Gone Girl — though Pike's part is substantially smaller. After Ted Crawford (Hopkins) learns of his wife's infidelity, he shoots his partner. Arrested for attempted murder, Ted ends up locked in a battle of wits with rising-star DA Willy Beachum (Gosling). Unfortunately for the hot-shot attorney, things aren't so clear-cut. Pike plays Nikki Gardner, a corporate attorney at a well-known law firm — and Willy's soon-to-be boss.

7 Wheel Of Time

In Amazon Prime Video's Wheel of Time, Rosamund Pike plays Moiraine Damodred — a member of a powerful organization of women who can channel the mystical One Power. In a Dune-like twist, Moiraine is searching for a prophesied, all-powerful male channeler who will either save the world or break it. The inventive fantasy series gives Pike a chance to shine in a whole new way, and in an entirely different genre. Since the beginning of the now-three-season show, Pike has also served as a producer, cementing her commitment to Moiraine and Wheel of Time's epic story.

6 Pride & Prejudice

Joe Wright's period-drama romance adapts Jane Austen's novel of the same name, and it also tops many viewers' must-watch lists. Pride & Prejudice revolves around the Bennet family's five daughters as they navigate marriage, morality, and the confines of their society's expectations. While Keira Knightley memorably stars as Elizabeth Bennet, Pride & Prejudice's heroic, admirable lead, Rosamund Pike plays Jane, the eldest Bennet daughter. According to Wright, he wanted Pike for Jane because "she wasn't going to play her as a nice, simple person," and that she'd give life to Jane's complex interior world and searing heartbreak (via The Guardian).

5 I Care A Lot

In many ways, 2020's I Care A Lot puts all of Rosamund Pike's most formidable talents on display. The black-comedy thriller sees Pike playing Marla Grayson, a con artist who earns her wealth by preying on elderly people; she convinces the courts to grant her guardianship over elders whom, she claims, cannot adequately care for themselves. The vape-wielding, sunglasses-wearing Marla gets more than she bargained for, however, when her latest target, Jennifer Peterson (Dianne Wiest), winds up having a crime lord for a son (Peter Dinklage). Rife with sinister delight, I Care A Lot is a searing satire that affords Pike a chance to be charmingly wicked.

4 Saltburn