Rosamund Pike

Rosamund Pike, Toronto, Sept. 6. 2007

ROSAMUND PIKE BEGAN HER FILM CAREER AS A BOND GIRL, but unlike many actresses who got their big break with 007 (Daniela Bianchi, say, or Barbara Bach), she managed to thrive despite this distinction. 2007 turned out to be my Bond Girl year, as Pike shared the job in Die Another Day with Halle Berry, who also recovered nicely from the experience.

Pike was at the film festival to promote her starring role in Fugitive Pieces, a Canadian production based on an award-winning novel, directed by Jeremy Podeswa, a local-boy-made-good who went on to direct episodes of Boardwalk Empire and Game of Thrones. Pike would return to Canada a few years later for a role in a movie adaptation of Mordecai Richler's Barney's Version; her luck held and her career survived these excursions in the Canadian film industry.

Rosamund Pike, Toronto, Sept. 6. 2007

Pike is one of cinema's current great beauties, an English Rose with actual talent to back up her looks. Whenever I've been assigned to photograph one of these beauties, I feel an uncommon mix of dread and relief. Relief because I know that, as long as the light is good and the camera is focused, I'll like get a photo that most people will call "lovely." Dread because, well, that really isn't enough - beauty is a crutch, and it's hard to make a portrait that's both beautiful and interesting.

I tried to work around Pike's obvious beauty by holding her full center in the frame with the Intercontinental's very tapered light behind me. I gave her more direction than I usually do, but nothing really specific, hoping to catch a few of those "in between" moments that can't be posed. I'm still not sure if I was successful, but I do know with some certainty that I've rarely seen any photos of Pike that look like mine.

Rosamund Pike, Toronto, Sept. 6. 2007