Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl

As an only child, England's Rosamund Pike couldn’t know that her solitary upbringing would be key in David Fincher’s casting her in the year’s most coveted female role: "Amazing" Amy Elliott Dunne in his cinematic adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s global bestseller, Gone Girl. Pike, who costars with Ben Affleck--part of an ingenious he-said/she-said look at a marriage in this psychological thriller--discusses Fincher, the role that will make her a household name, and her present pregnant condition. She is due to give birth in 8 weeks to her second child.

•