Starring in the 2005 movie Doom nearly ended her career, Rosamund Pike has said.
The sci-fi action horror was based on the video game series of the same name and stars Dwayne Johnson and Karl Urban alongside Pike, who was relatively new to film at the time. The film focuses on a group of marines on a rescue mission to Mars, where they battle demon-like creatures.
Speaking on the How To Fail With Elizabeth Day podcast, she explained that she’d been working on Pride & Prejudice when she was asked to be in Doom and was “having great fun in my cornfields in my bonnet” filming the Jane Austen adaptation.
“So suddenly I’m in this film with the Rock, and I realise how utterly ill-equipped I am to be an action star,” she added. “[There were] macho guys. There were weights on the set. Every time a gun was brought out, it was kind of like a holy relic for the Doom fans. I was just out of my comfort zone, out of my league, out of my depth.”
Check out the episode below, with the Doom discussion about 32 minutes in.
Doom received a negative critical reception and bombed at the box office, grossing under $60million against a production budget between $60-70million.
“It was an absolute bomb. I mean, I probably could have ended my career,” Pike said. “It was just probably one of the worst films ever made. I mean, it was a catastrophe. I don’t read the reviews, but you get the sense like you’re lucky to have survived that one.”
After Doom, Pike featured in the period dramas An Education and Made In Dagenham and movies including Johnny English Reborn, Wrath Of The Titans, Jack Reacher and The World’s End.
Her portrayal of Amy Dunne in the 2014 psychological thriller Gone Girl was lauded by critics and earned the actress numerous nominations, including one for Best Actress at the Oscars.
Most recently, Pike has been working on the Netflix romantic comedy Ladies First and the action thriller In The Grey, both set for release in May, as well as the black comedy Wife & Dog, which will come out in October.
Meanwhile, the actress made her Royal National Theatre debut last summer in the play Inter Alia, and she was in the movies Now You See Me: Now You Don’t and Hallow Road last year.