Early life

Pike was born in Hammersmith, London, the only child of opera singers Caroline (née Friend) and Julian Pike. Pike's father is currently a professor of music and head of operatic studies at the Birmingham Conservatoire.

The family travelled across Europe until she was seven, following wherever her parents' performing careers took them. Pike won a scholarship to Badminton School in Bristol, and while appearing as Juliet in a production of Romeo and Juliet at the National Youth Theatre, was noticed by an agent, who helped her embark upon a professional career.

After being turned down by every stage school to which she applied, she gained a place to read English literature at Wadham College, Oxford, from which she graduated. She took a year off to pursue her acting career, garnering stage experience in David Hare's Skylight, Arthur Miller's All My Sons, and several plays by Shakespeare; she achieved an Upper Second class degree in 2001.

Career

While she was still at Oxford, Pike acted in and directed various plays, including one by Simon Chesterman, who was then a graduate student. She also made appearances on British television shows, including A Rather English Marriage (1998), Wives and Daughters (1999), and Love in a Cold Climate (2001), a miniseries based on Nancy Mitford's novels The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate. She also appeared as a CIA agent in the pilot of the science fiction series, Seven Days (1998), and as Sarah Beaumont in an episode of the series Foyle's War.

After graduating, she considered working at Waterstone's bookshop due to a lack of acting opportunities, but was offered a role as a Bond girl and MI6 agent assigned to aid James Bond in Die Another Day. She also appeared in the special show Bond Girls Are Forever and, shortly afterwards, the BAFTA tribute to the James Bond series. Pike then played Elizabeth Malet in The Libertine (2004), co-starring Johnny Depp, which won her the Best Supporting Actress award at the British Independent Film Awards. In the same year, she portrayed Rose in The Promised Land, a film about Israel, and starred as scientist Samantha Grimm in the cinematic adaptation of the computer game series Doom. In 2005, she appeared as Jane, the elder sister of Elizabeth (played by Keira Knightley), in Pride & Prejudice. Pike then starred in the film adaptation of Anne Michaels's novel Fugitive Pieces. She also starred as a successful attorney in the film Fracture, opposite Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling.

Her stage credits include Hitchcock Blonde by Terry Johnson (in a role requiring her to appear completely nude on stage with only a pair of high heels) and Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke, both in London's West End, and Gaslight at London's Old Vic Theatre. Pike has said that she would be happy to do at least one play every year. In 2009, she played the title character in Madame De Sade during the Donmar's West End season.

She appeared in the British film Made in Dagenham and in the Canadian film Barney's Version where she plays Miriam. In 2010, she starred in a production of Hedda Gabler on UK tour. Pike has recorded voicework for a lead role in the film Jackboots on Whitehall and lent her voice to a new series of James Bond audio-books, narrating The Spy Who Loved Me. In 2010 Pike played the part of Pussy Galore in the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Fleming's Goldfinger. In 2011, Pike played the part of Kate Sumner in the 2011 Bond spoof film Johnny English Reborn, playing a psychologist and English's love interest. The film is a sequel to the 2003 film Johnny English and was a box office success, taking over $160 million.

In 2012, she played the role of Queen Andromeda in the fantasy epic Wrath of the Titans. She replaced Alexa Davalos, who had played the role in Clash of the Titans and had dropped out due to a scheduling conflict. Taking the role in Wrath of the Titans meant she had to drop out of consideration for a role in the forthcoming Superman film. Although the film was not well received by critics, it grossed over $300 million and critics considered her performance to be one of the film's highlights. She also starred as Helen Rodin, the female lead alongside Tom Cruise in the thriller Jack Reacher, an adaptation of the novel One Shot by author Lee Child. The film opened to positive critical reception and had grossed over $218 million.

After a supporting role in the critically acclaimed The World's End (2013), Pike was seen in the David Fincher-directed thriller Gone Girl (2014), a film adaptation of Gillian Flynn's novel of the same name. Featuring opposite Ben Affleck, Pike was cast as Amy Dunne, a woman who goes missing on her fifth wedding anniversary. According to Fincher, Pike was his first choice for the role because he wanted someone who was not widely known, Pike having not appeared in any major leading role prior to the film's commencement, and because he found her enigmatic and couldn't easily read her. The film emerged as a box office hit, earning over $356 million in global ticket sales. The movie and Pike's performance both earned widespread acclaim from critics. Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair wrote that the film is "Smartly shot, detailed ... and performed" and called Pike's portrayal "a star-makingly good performance, spellbinding in its operatic mix of tones and temperatures." Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter reviewed that she "is powerful and commanding ... Physically and emotionally, Pike looks to have immersed herself in this profoundly calculating character, and the results are impressive." She received numerous awards and nominations, including for the Academy Award for Best Actress, the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role.

Since 2015, she has voiced Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward in the remake of Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds Are Go produced by ITV in conjunction with Weta Workshop. In February 2016, she starred in the music video for Voodoo in My Blood by Massive Attack directly inspired by the subway scene with Isabelle Adjani in the movie Possession (1981) directed by Andrzej Żuławski.

Personal life

While at Oxford, Pike was in a relationship with fellow student and actor Simon Woods that lasted two years. Despite the break-up, the two later played lovers Jane Bennet and Charles Bingley in Pride & Prejudice. In 2007, Pike was engaged to film director Joe Wright, but he called off the wedding in 2008. Since December 2009, she has been in a relationship with Robie Uniacke, a mathematical researcher. They have two sons, Solo (born 2012) and Atom (born 2014).

Activism

In 2015 she signed an open letter which the ONE Campaign had been collecting signatures for; the letter was addressed to Angela Merkel and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, urging them to focus on women as they serve as the head of the G7 in Germany and the AU in South Africa respectively, which will start to set the priorities in development funding before a main UN summit in September 2015 that will establish new development goals for the generation.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	Die Another Day	Miranda Frost
2004	Promised Land	Rose
2004	The Libertine	Elizabeth Malet
2005	Pride & Prejudice	Jane Bennet
2005	Doom	Dr. Samantha Grimm
2007	Fracture	Nikki Gardner
2007	Fugitive Pieces	Alex
2009	Education, AnAn Education	Helen
2009	Surrogates	Maggie Greer
2009	Yesterday We Were in America	Narrator	Documentary
2010	Burning Palms	Dedra Davenport
2010	Jackboots on Whitehall	Daisy	Voice role
2010	Barney's Version	Miriam Grant-Panofsky
2010	Made in Dagenham	Lisa Hopkins
2011	The Organ Grinder's Monkey	Rochelle	Short film
2011	Johnny English Reborn	Kate Sumner
2011	The Big Year	Jessica
2012	Wrath of the Titans	Queen Andromeda
2012	Jack Reacher	Helen Rodin
2013	The Devil You Know	Zoe Hughes	Shot in late 2005
2013	The World's End	Sam Chamberlain
2014	A Long Way Down	Penny
2014	Hector and the Search for Happiness	Clara
2014	What We Did on Our Holiday	Abi
2014	Gone Girl	Amy Elliott Dunne	Academy Award for Best Actress nomination
2015	Return to Sender	Miranda Wells
2016	A United Kingdom	Ruth Williams Khama	In post-production
2016	HHhH	Lina Heydrich	In post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Seven Days	CIA Agent	Pilot
1998	Rather English Marriage, AA Rather English Marriage	Celia	Movie
1999	Wives and Daughters	Lady Harriet Cumnor	3 episodes
2000	Trial & Retribution	Lucy	Episode: "Trial & Retribution IV Part 1"
2001	Love in a Cold Climate	Fanny	2 episodes
2002	Bond Girls Are Forever	Herself	Documentary
2002	Foyle's War	Sarah Beaumont	Episode: "The German Woman"
2008	The Tower	Olivia Wynn	Pilot
2009	Freefall	Anna	Movie
2011	Women in Love	Gudrun Brangwen	2 episodes
2015	Thunderbirds Are Go	Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward	Voice role, 13 episodes

Stage

Year	Title	Role
2002	Hitchcock Blonde	The Blonde
2006	Summer and Smoke	Alma Winemiller
2007	Gaslight	Bella Manningham
2009	Madame de Sade	Madame de Sade
2010	Hedda Gabler	Hedda Gabler

Awards and nominations

Year	Nominated work	Association	Category	Result
2003	Die Another Day	Empire Awards	Best Newcomer	Won
		MTV Movie Awards	Best Trans-Atlantic Performance	Nominated
2005	The Libertine	British Independent Film Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Won
2006	Pride & Prejudice	London Film Critics Circle	British Supporting Actress of the Year	Nominated
2009	Fugitive Pieces	Genie Awards	Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role	Nominated
	An Education	British Independent Film Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Nominated
2010	An Education	London Film Critics Circle	British Supporting Actress of the Year	Nominated
		Screen Actors Guild	Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture	Nominated
	Made in Dagenham	British Independent Film Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Nominated
2011	Made in Dagenham	London Film Critics Circle	British Supporting Actress of the Year	Nominated
	Barney's Version	London Film Critics Circle	British Actress of the Year	Nominated
		Satellite Awards	Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture	Nominated
		Genie Awards	Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role	Nominated
2014	Gone Girl	Austin Film Critics Association	Best Actress	Won
		Denver Film Critics Society	Best Actress	Won
		Detroit Film Critics Society	Best Actress	Won
		Empire Awards	Best Actress	Won
		Florida Film Critics Circle	Best Actress	Won
		London Film Critics Circle	British Actress of the Year	Won
		Online Film Critics Society	Best Actress	Won
		Sant Jordi Awards	Best Foreign Actress	Won
		Saturn Awards	Best Actress	Won
		St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association	Best Actress	Won
		AACTA International Awards	Best Actress	Nominated
		Academy Awards	Best Actress	Nominated
		BAFTA	Best Actress in a Leading Role	Nominated
		Chicago Film Critics Association	Best Actress	Nominated
		Critics' Choice Movie Awards	Best Actress	Nominated
		Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association	Best Actress	Nominated
		Golden Globe Awards	Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama	Nominated
		MTV Movie Awards	Breakthrough Performance	Nominated
		MTV Movie Awards	Best Scared-As-S**t Performance	Nominated
		MTV Movie Awards	Best Villain	Nominated
		San Diego Film Critics Society	Best Actress	Nominated
		Satellite Awards	Best Actress - Motion Picture	Nominated
		Screen Actors Guild	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role	Nominated
		Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association	Best Actress	Nominated
	What We Did on Our Holiday	London Film Critics Circle	British Actress of the Year	Won

[ Source: Wikipedia ]