“When I read the script, I realized this was unlike any character I’ve tackled before,” reveals Rosamund Pike as we chat via webcam (watch the exclusive video above) about “Hostiles.” Directed by Scott Cooper, the film centers on a legendary army captain (Christian Bale) in 1892 who reluctantly agrees to escort a Cheyenne chief (Wes Studi) and his family through dangerous territory. Pike plays Rosalie Quaid, whose husband and children are slaughtered by violent natives. “I realized it was going to have to be a very physical immersion in a character,” she adds, “maybe more than I’ve done before.”
Channeling Rosalie’s intense pain was a challenge for the actress. “This character suffers an unutterable loss,” she explains, “a grief so intense that I could barely let the thinking of it into my own house. I realized very quickly that I was going to have to equip myself with some new tools to take on that part.”
She was eager to work with Cooper, the director of “Crazy Heart” (2009), “Out of the Furnace” (2013), and “Black Mass” (2015). “He’s a very bold filmmaker,” she divulges, “because his films raise more questions than they answer, which is something I admire. I like those films that stay in your blood long after you leave the theater, and I think that’s what he really does for his audiences. I think he lets characters breathe, he lets stories breathe, and I feel with this frenetic pace of filmmaking these days, it’s a quality we really need.”
Pike received Oscar, SAG Awards, Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Critics Choice nominations as Best Actress for “Gone Girl” (2014). She previously competed at SAG as Best Ensemble for “An Education” (2009).
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