'Radioactive' Preview: Rosamund Pike plays 'pioneer, rebel and genius' Marie Curie in inspiring biopic
Rosamund Pike enjoys shocking her audience. The British actress has always chosen roles with varying shades in different genres. She is insistent that she doesn't want to be typecast, and looking at her extensive filmography, it's clear that she can't be slotted into a category. From Bond Girl to 'Gone Girl' to now Marie Curie in 'Radioactive', Pike is determined to push the envelope further and prove that once again, she can pull off bold and unusual roles with finesse.
'Radioactive' tells the story of Marie Curie, the scientist who made the path-breaking discovery of radium, helping to pave the way for women in science. It follows her life from the time she met her husband Pierre Curie (Sam Riley), their collaboration, their discovery of radium and how he appears to be getting all the credit despite her hard work. The film is an attempt to demonstrate a woman's voice in a man's world, that refuses to be silent, despite being told so.
The synopsis of the film is, "Pioneer - Rebel - Genius. 'Radioactive' is the incredible, true story of Marie Curie and her Nobel Prize-winning work that changed the world starring Rosamund Pike and Sam Riley." 'Radioactive' has been directed by Marjane Satrapi.
In an interview with LA Magazine, Pike opened up about her taking on the role of the scientist. Asked if she took a crash course, she said, "There's the school of thought for actors that if you look completely neutral, people will project any thought on you. But I needed to have an idea of her mind. A chemistry teacher came to my house after my kids went to sleep. It wasn't just studying chemistry — it was about the turn of the century. Electricity was just discovered, X-rays — that's the first time anybody had seen inside the human body. Curie’s work was also about the phenomenon of what you can't see with the human eye."
She admitted that there has been a "progression" since her characterization of Amy Dunn in 'Gone Girl', and that doesn't always go for what sells commercially. "That character, Amy Dunne, [ran the] whole gamut: cozy friend, fun-loving cool girl, smart and sophisticated. After that, floodgates opened—it was full permission to let out the crazy—and I’ve had a lot of fun playing antiheroines. I’ve attempted not [to] be typecast—to play with multiple shades. I’d still love to do something else with the commercial clout of 'Gone Girl'—a film with a huge buzz that adults want to go to a movie theater for. But, alas, my tastes are not always commercial."
'Radioactive' will begin streaming on Amazon Prime on July 24.