Rosamund Pike was just 23 years old when she broke into the mainstream after landing the role of Bond girl Miranda Frost in the 2002 movie Die Another Day.
And the star, now 46, revealed in a new interview that despite being an unknown actor at the time, she was cast in the iconic role after refusing to strip off during her audition.
Reflecting on her early career in a profile for Harper’s Bazaar, Rosamund said that casting agents asked her to “unzip and drop” her dress so that she would be standing in front of them in just her underwear.
Even though she was only 21 years old at the time of the audition — and a total newcomer — she did not bow to the pressure, and told the agents that she’d only be stripping to her underwear for them if she got the role.
“In the Bond audition, I was asked to unzip and drop the dress I was wearing, to just stand there in underwear,” Rosamund told the publication. “And I thought: ‘Well, no, I’ll be doing that if I get the part. I won’t be doing that now.’”
Thankfully, Rosamund’s experience on the Die Another Day set was much more above board than the audition requests, with the star saying in 2018 that she felt completely comfortable throughout filming thanks to the movie’s producer, Barbara Broccoli.
And Rosamund actually ended up making a habit out of putting her foot down when it comes to gratuitous nudity, with the star getting a nude scene scrapped from a play shortly after her Bond role.
What do you make of Rosamund’s Bond audition? Let me know in the comments below!