Rosamund Pike says that she was asked to strip down to her underwear during an audition for the 2002 James Bond film Die Another Day, in which she was eventually cast as femme fatale Miranda Frost.
The Hostiles actress says that, as just a 21-year-old actress, she refused and eventually won the producers' respect as a result. The interview appeared in an "Audible Session" to promote an audiobook of Jane Austen's Sense & Sensibility that Pike narrated.
“My first audition was for a Bond film and I remember them saying I was to drop my dress and appear in my underwear,” she said in the interview. "On the day, I don’t know how I got the resolve and strength of mind, but I just thought 'Actually sod that, if they're gonna see me in my underwear, they better give me the job.' So, I thought, 'There's no way I'm going to take off a dress in the audition for this tape to be sent around Los Angeles and to be judged on that.'”
Pike said that for the audition, which required formal wear, she chose to don her grandmother's silk gown, but was told it wasn't flashy enough. The costume designer told her, "'That's a very beautiful dress, but in Bond films we wear things a little more like this', and she held up three pieces of string.'"
“I realised I was in a completely different world and way out of my depth. So, I put on this shimmering sheath, or whatever the order of the day was, but I didn't drop it,” Pike said. She later added that she felt comfortable on the set of the Pierce Brosnan movie.
Pike's story comes in the wake of the #MeToo movement, which saw many other actresses tell stories of untoward and strange auditions. Mira Sorvino claimed she lost a part after a director propositioned her on an audition, multiple actresses claimed CSI casting employee Andy Henry forced them to disrobe and actresses auditioning for Trafficked reported being forced to simulate rape, among other story, according to Hollywood Reporter.
The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to MGM for comment.
