Rosamund Pike thinks her 'Gone Girl' character was an actress' "dream".
The 36-year-old star - who plays Amy Dunne in the thriller - has admitted that a role like the one she played is "very empowering".
She said: "There's no actress who wouldn't dream of a character like that. As an actor, you think, 'I'm never going to be good enough. I can see how far I want to reach with this and the potential, but I'm never going to reach it.'
"But the other side of that, is you go home and think, 'I can do anything I want. This is so extreme. It's a version of being a woman that isn't contained in any way.'
"She's extreme. Yes, it's a film about a murderess, but it's very empowering, in some ways. It's great to stretch every muscle and get to make good on every insane thought you've ever had."
The 'Die Another Day' actress also admitted that she felt like the character for six months because the film's director, David Fincher, swore her to secrecy about the plot.
She added to Collider.com: "You play a part like this and people always ask you when you got the character out of your system. We finished the movie, and then, it wasn't until the New York premiere that we could finally talk about it, and I was like, 'I've basically been playing Amy for the last six months. I've been lying and hiding things and not telling the truth...'
"Obviously, the book found a huge readership, but many, many more people saw the film than read the book. Those people who didn't know what was coming had an extraordinary experience in the cinema because it's an extraordinary story. So, it was worth keeping those secrets."
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