Rosamund Pike - Narrator

Academy Award nominee Rosamund Pike is regarded as a contemporary and multifaceted actress who has earned international acclaim for both her stage and film roles.

Rosamund recently starred in A United Kingdom opposite David Oyelowo which tells the true story of Seretse Khama, a member of the royal family in South Africa. Khama sparked international outrage when he married a white woman in 1948, and was exiled from his home country by the British Government in 1951. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2016 and opened the London Film Festival in October 2016. In the coming year, she will star in HHHH with director Cedric Jimenez and co-starring Jason Clarke, Jack O’Connell and Jack Reynor. The film tells the story of Heydrich (Clarke), the highest-ranked Nazi officer who was considered to be the mastermind of the “Final Solution” and was assassinated by two resistance paratroopers in 1942. Rosamund will play Lina Heydrich, an aristocrat who was married to Heydrich and reportedly introduced her husband to the Nazi ideology. Rosamund recently wrapped production on the film Entebbe, directed by José Padhila, about the Entebbe hostage crisis of 1976 where two Palestinians and two Germans hijacked an Air France plane en route from Tel Aviv and held 246 passengers and crew hostage at Entebbe Airport, Uganda. Rosamund plays Brigitte Kuhlmann, a German revolutionary who was one of the hijackers. Just before that, Rosamund finished production on Hostiles, directed by Scott Cooper, which tells the story of a legendary Army captain who reluctantly agrees to escort a Cheyenne chief and his family through dangerous territory. She co-stars with Christian Bale.

One further film is completed that will also come out in 2017: Radar Pictures’ political thriller High Wire Act, in which Rosamund starts opposite Jon Hamm. Brad Anderson directs, in a script from Tony Gilroy, about a retired U.S. diplomat and CIA operative attempting a rescue mission in 1980s’ Beirut. Rosamund plays the field agent responsible for Mason Skiles' (Hamm) safety, as he is called back into service to save a former colleague.

Rosamund recently starred in David Fincher's film, Gone Girl, in which she played ‘Amy Dunne’, opposite Ben Affleck. Gone Girl was adapted for the screen by the best-selling book's original author, Gillian Flynn. The film emerged as a box office hit in October 2014, earning over $215 million in global ticket sales. The movie and Rosamund's performance both earned widespread critical acclaim. Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair wrote that the film is "Smartly shot, detailed ... and performed" and called Rosamund's portrayal as "a star-makingly good performance, spellbinding in its operatic mix of tones and temperatures." Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter reviewed that Rosamund "is powerful and commanding ... Physically and emotionally, Rosamund looks to have immersed herself in this profoundly calculating character, and the results are impressive."

As such, Rosamund was nominated for an Academy Award, a SAG Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Critics’ Choice Movie Award and was honored in February 2015 at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. She was also honored with the ‘Breakthrough Performance Award’ at the 26th Annual Palm Springs Film Festival for her role in Gone Girl as well as honored for her performance at the Women in Film & TV (UK) Awards. Additionally, Rosamund won many film critics’ awards for her portrayal including the Austin Film Critics Association Award, Utah Film Critics Association Award, and Oklahoma Film Critics’ Circle Award in addition to being nominated for a London Critics’ Circle Film Award, St. Louis Film Critics Award, Phoenix Film Critics Society, International Press Academy Satellite Award, Women’s Image Network Award, Georgia Film Critics Association Award, Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award and the Washington DC Area Film Critics Award.

Earlier in 2014, Rosamund starred opposite Simon Pegg, Stellen Skarsgard and Toni Collette in Peter Chelsom's Hector and the Search for Happiness. Additionally, she starred in Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin's part improvised BBC comedy What We Did on Our Holiday alongside Billy Connolly and David Tennant. Prior to that Rosamund starred in Barney's Version opposite Paul Giamatti. The film, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival, and went on to receive rave reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival, is a love story poignantly captures the life of the politically incorrect, irascible and fearlessly blunt Barney Panofsky (Giamatti) and the women he has loved in his life. Rosamund's work in the film earned her a London Critics' Circle Award for "British Actress of the Year" and a Genie Award nomination for best actress.

Rosamund received critical acclaim for her work as Helen in Lone Scherfig's Academy Award Nominated Film An Education, opposite Peter Sarsgaard and Carey Mulligan. Received well at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009, An Education continued to garner critical acclaim with Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA, Film Critics nominations, and a win for Best Foreign Film at the Independent Spirit Awards.

Rosamund's past film credits include A Long Way Down, Edgar Wright's The World's End opposite Simon Pegg, Jack Reacher opposite Tom Cruise, and Wrath Of The Titans, directed by Jonathan Liebesman. In 2010, Rosamund played Lisa Hopkins in the dramatic film Made in Dagenham with Sally Hawkins, Miranda Richardson and Bob Hoskins. She was later nominated for a 2011 London Critics' Circle Award for "British Actress in a Supporting Role" for her role in the film. Others include, Johnny English Reborn, The Big Year, Women in Love, The Libertine, Pride and Prejudice, Fracture, Fugitive Pieces, Surrogates, Burning Palms, and Die Another Day.

Aside from her cinematic roles, Rosamund has continued to return to her roots in theatre on the London stage. She has starred in Gaslight, Patrick Hamilton's Victorian thriller, at the Old Vic Theater, The Donmar Warehouse Production of Madame de Sade in The West End, opposite Judi Dench, and The Royal Court Theatre production of Hitchcock Blonde, directed by Terry Johnson. With its enormous success, the play was moved to the Lyric Theater in London's West End. In 2010 Rosamund played the title role in Hedda Gabler, a performance for which she received rave reviews.

We're delighted that Rosamund will be the narrator for CSO's Family Concert in April 2017.