Rosamund Pike’s career can easily be looked upon as an anthology of thriller and action films, some of her most popular works including Jack Reacher starring Tom Cruise, 2014’s Gone Girl, and the James Bond venture, Die Another Day. But if there’s one genre the British actress is yet to explore, it’s that of superheroes.
Perhaps she could’ve stepped into DC’s world of Kryptonian legends with Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, but alas, Pike ended up embarking on a quest into the underworld with Wrath of the Titans instead.
Rosamund Pike Turned Down Man of Steel for Wrath of the Titans
Henry Cavill might not be Superman anymore, but his indelible legacy as the Man of Tomorrow will always be alive through films like Man of Steel and Dawn of Justice. While the latter might have fared well at the box office, the former holds a special place in fans’ hearts since it marked Cavill’s debut as Clark Kent.
At some point, the superhero flick was also in the works to star Rosamund Pike in an undisclosed role. Enter a dilemma – the big decision of choosing between the Snyder spectacle and a Clash of the Titans sequel. Alas, the allure of Greek mythology and sword fights was too strong to ignore, and so, Pike caved in, ultimately joining the ensemble cast of the fantasy/action venture.
Talking to Collider about the same, Pike, 44, revealed how she was immensely intrigued by the angle that the director, Jonathan Liebesman, was approaching the project. However, her most significant reason behind choosing Wrath of the Titans over Man of Steel was because she believed she’d learn much more from the former than she would from Cavill’s superhero movie.
“I think I was very interested in the way that the director was approaching Wrath of the Titans. He was a South African guy called Jonathan Liebesman and he just had this sort of documentary approach to this big world and I thought he’d teach me stuff. You know, sometimes you pick roles based on what you think you can learn from them, and I thought there were things that I would learn from that, which I did, whether or not anyone knew about it. He taught me an awful lot about action, actually.”
And as it turned out, Pike did indeed learn a lot from the film.
Wrath of the Titans – Rosamund Pike on Her Experience As Andromeda
A sequel to 2010’s Clash of the Titans, Wrath of the Titans stars Sam Worthington as Perseus, Liam Neeson as Zeus, Rosamund Pike as Andromeda, and Ralph Fiennes as Hades. In terms of commercial success, the DC project was an obvious winner, amassing $668 million worldwide whereas Wrath of the Titans only made $302 million at the global box office. Regardless of the numbers, however, Pike couldn’t be happier about her decision.
Not only did she enjoy portraying Andromeda on-screen, but she also learned tons of new skills, especially concerning swordsmanship, all of which she believed would come in extremely handy in the future.
“It was a great part, Andromeda. And I learnt an awful lot of sword skills. And all of these things, you never know when they’re gonna come back. And even just kind of imagining things, how to sell stuff that’s not in front of you, all of these skills that you don’t realize as a young actor you’re gonna need; how to believe something terrifying is right in front of you if you can’t see it and all that stuff that has to become a skill.”
All in all, the Golden Globe winner held no ounce of regret in rejecting the DC film for the fantasy adventure of Perseus and Zeus.
Both Man of Steel and Wrath of the Titans can be streamed on Netflix.
Source: Collider
