Rosamund Pike felt her life would never be “conventional” after she was publicly dumped by her fiancé.
The actress met director Joe Wright on the set of 2005’s Pride & Prejudice, which she appeared in and he helmed. They were together for four years, with him calling time on their relationship a month before they were due to marry.
Rosamund won’t talk about the experience, except to say she has not seen Joe since. She previously admitted she had no idea why Joe ended things, and now says it changed her profoundly.
“When you’re about to get married and then you’re not, it’s all a big shock. You think, well, OK, so I’m never going to lead a totally conventional life now,” she told the November edition of UK magazine InStyle.
“Well, it sort of cleans the slate and now I can be exactly who I am. Everyone gives you a certain leeway too, because they can see that you’ve had something pretty painful going on. And in that, I find a tremendous freedom. I now know I can be married or not married, live with someone or apart, or even in a separate country. Even my grandmother is no longer expecting me to go down a conventional route, which is nice.”
Having had her private life gossiped about in the past, Rosamund is now very private. She is seeing someone new, but refuses to discuss the romance.
“I won’t disclose. Once you get burnt, you’re never going to discuss things like that again. Let’s just say I’m really enjoying not being married at the moment,” she said.
The actress describes herself as “geeky and nervy” and far removed from the polished star many think she is.
Although she’s often nervous, that doesn’t mean she isn’t driven. She’s keen to have the most successful career possible, even though Rosamund knows some don’t find that attractive.
“As a woman, you feel that you shouldn’t want to better yourself against others,” she remarked. “Ambition has become such an ugly word, hasn’t it? But when you look up the definition, ambition is to achieve distinction in your chosen field… and most of us would own up to that, wouldn’t we? So, I’ve just decided to be a little bit less frightened… and a bit less, ‘Please like me and please give me a job.’ And a bit more, ‘This is my opinion and this is what I want to do.’”
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