Gone Girl fans are only just realising thriller could have had very different lead star
Gone Girl fans are only just realising a different star was set to play the role of Amy Dunne, with Rosamund Pike's Oscar-nominated performance not a definite until director David Fincher stepped in
The hit film Gone Girl could have turned out very differently if director David Fincher had given in to requests from the writing team. A different star had been set for the role of Amy Dunne, who went on to be played by Rosamund Pike. She would feature alongside Ben Affleck and Neil Patrick Harris, even picking up an Academy Award nomination for her performance.
But it could have turned out very differently for Pike, who was not the first choice of casting. Director Fincher, who made hit films like Fight Club and The Social Network, reportedly backed the Pride & Prejudice star as the choice for the role.
Had he not done so, then it could have been Reese Witherspoon in the leading role. The Legally Blonde star didn't end up getting the part in Gone Girl, and says it was "an ego check" for her when Fincher rejected her for the film.
The American actress said on an episode of Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers' Las Culturistas podcast: "David sat me down — and this is not on David — but David's like, 'You're totally wrong for this part, and I'm not putting you in it.'
"I had all these conversations with the writer Gillian Flynn, and she was like, 'No, I'd really like you to do it,' But he was like, 'You're wrong.' That was, first of all, an ego check for me."
Fans, and even Witherspoon, believe Fincher made the right choice in taking Pike on for the lead role. Witherspoon would add: "It was like, 'No, you're not right for everything.' And he was right. He was totally right."
Viewers have since praised Witherspoon for her openness and say she was right to turn down the role. One person wrote on the r/popculturechat Reddit page that it was cool to see the Legally Blonde star had the "vision" for Gone Girl in mind.
They wrote: "Very cool of her to see the vision in retrospect, and for him to sit her down and have a real conversation about why he wasn't picking her. I think everyone agrees Rosamund Pike is pretty definitive in that role."
Another agreed, adding: "I think Reese would have been too on the nose. She’s already played similar so many similar characters that are darksided or calculating under the America's sweetheart look, Rosmaund had an element of surprise that I think it needed."
A third wrote: "Yes I was just thinking, sometimes the audience having the context of former roles can really subvert expectations in a fun way.
"People who hadn’t read the book might’ve gone in expecting 'Sweet Home Alabama' Reese and been utterly floored in a way you can’t manage with someone lesser known (at the time)
Others believe it was Witherspoon who was in mind when writing the book, but that this development gave way to Pike's casting. One person suggested: "I think Reese may have been who she envisioned for Diary Amy. In her diary, she writes herself as being extremely bubbly, outgoing and laid back.
"And I can see Reese playing Amy extremely well in the mostly fake diary flashbacks. However, she would’ve been zero match for Rosamund Pike’s calculating, manipulative and evil portrayal of Amy from the 'Cool Girl' monologue."