Rosamund Pike has described her now iconic character in the hit film Saltburn as a “sexual anorexic”.
The 45-year-old actress plays the rude, superficial, upper-class Lady Elspeth Catton in the thriller and is tipped to take home a BAFTA Award for her performance on Sunday night.
Describing how she dealt with the repressed figure, she told The Sun: “The food anorexic might say: 'Food is my greatest need and also my greatest fear.' A sexual anorexic would say: 'Sex is my greatest need and also my greatest fear.' Fear.”
“And that gave me a very interesting opportunity to play Elspeth.” Because it's your greatest need – you want to be desired, you want people to look at you sexually – but it's also something you detest.
The film features a number of very raunchy scenes, including star Barry Keoghan dancing naked, but Rosamund admitted the film was originally much less raunchy.
Rosamund Pike, 45, has described her now iconic character in hit film Saltburn as a “sexual anorexic”.
The actress plays the rude, superficial and high-class Lady Elspeth Catton in the thriller and is tipped to take home a BAFTA Award for her performance on Sunday night (pictured in the film).
She also told the publication how writer-director Emerald Fennell originally showed her a different script than what ultimately appeared on screen before rewriting the story.
'[Emerald] keeps pushing these things forward. And I think there are definitely scenes in the film that probably could never have been in the script or she never would have done it.”
It comes after Emerald claimed she was met with more “anger and wrath” over the film's raunchy scenes because she is a “writer”.
The Oscar-winning filmmaker, 38, admitted she was surprised by the “uproar” Saltburn caused, particularly Barry Keoghan's shocking bathing moment, the “vampire sex” and that serious scene.
Emerald admitted that while “no one believes her,” she doesn't really set out to create “divisive” content – rather, she enjoys “making people squirm.”
“Saltburn” shocked viewers upon its release. Some were thrilled by the film's outrageous moments, while others were outraged.
Emerald was open about feeling the force of this outrage, which she said was “particularly” salient and revealing as a woman.
Speaking about the reception on the Where There's A Will, There's A Wake podcast, she said: “It's an expose for all of us, it's an expose for me because I wrote it and I say I think the scene where you lick a drain, that.” The idea of that is very sexy.
Describing how she played the repressed character, she said, “The food anorexic might say, 'Food is my greatest need and also my greatest fear.' A sexual anorexic would say, 'Sex is my greatest need and also my greatest fear.' .”
The film features a number of very raunchy scenes, including star Barry Keoghan (pictured) dancing naked, but Rosamund admitted the film was originally much less raunchy
“It's also revealing because when something comes out, the responsibility as a filmmaker, especially if you're a woman, rightly falls on you.”
“But it means you get a lot of anger or criticism, and that’s okay too.”
She told comedian Kathy Burke: “It was absolutely crazy.” “Even though no one believes it, I don't actually mean to create things that are divisive, it's really not intentional, but it seems they were.”
Of particular note were the shocking scenes in the bathroom and in the grave, both of which involved Irish actor Barry, 31.
The scene that caused the most excitement was when Barry's character Oliver simulated quick sex with the grave of his murdered best friend Felix Catton, played by Jacob, 26.
It comes after Emerald claimed she was met with more “anger and wrath” over the film's raunchy scenes because she is a “writer”.
The Oscar-winning filmmaker admitted she was surprised by the “riot” Saltburn caused, particularly Barry's shocking bathing moment, the “vampire sex” and that serious scene
Meanwhile, in the bath scene, which has since inspired brands to make candles and bath bombs, Oliver is seen secretly drinking Felix's bath water after masturbating in it as it flowed out of the tub.
“With something like the grave scene, Barry was very open about the depth to which that goes, which is something that's really important to me,” she added.
“At every stage we have an intimacy coordinator, we have constant conversations about whether there was ever a moment when someone changed their mind, even after the fact, in editing or after test screenings, when anyone – let alone Barry – said that. “If I had taken anything out or changed anything, it would have been gone.
“I’m often asked, ‘God, how did you get X to do Y?’ – I would never make anyone do anything.”