Rosamund Pike will play Amy Dunne in the film adaptation of Gillian Flynn's bestselling novel Gone Girl. In a recent interview, Pike and director David Fincher explained how Pike got the role of a lifetime.

Pike can be seen on the cover and in a striking photoshoot of W magazine's May issue. In it, she recalls Fincher asking her to meet him in St. Louis. At the time he was scouting locations, and Pike was reading Dunne's book. She had yet to receive a script.

"I said, 'I'll swim to St. Louis,' " Pike told W. "We met there for two days."

Weeks later, Finch texted the 35-year-old telling her "You have the part."

"The only evidence I have that I got the call to play Amy is a selfie of me jumping in the rain in the Highlands," Pike told the magazine. "I look both happy and thoroughly daunted -- the whole 'You got the best gig in years' scenario gives me the creeps. [pause] But then again, I'm a very hard worker, and maybe people who have underestimated me or just thought I looked good will say they were wrong."

Pike's credits include Die Another Day, Pride & Prejudice, An Education and Jack Reacher.

"I liked that people didn't immediately know who Rosamund was," Fincher explained. "I'd always liked Rosamund in movies, but I didn't really know her. That made her very interesting."

As a result, Pike got the lead role over big names like Natalie Portman and Charlize Theron who both expressed interest in playing Amy.

The role could be a gamechanger in Pike's career, and the actress is up to challenge.

"...there was no time for me to panic," she said. "I do remember saying to David, 'I know you know I have this character in me; you zeroed in on me for good reason.'"

Pike wants to make sure she does not let her director down, whose successful résumé includes other successful adaptations of bestselling novels, Fight Club and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

"With David Fincher, it's like being X-rayed -- he sees things that you may not want anyone to see," Pike added. "Now I have to prove him right -- I have to show the world that I'm as dark as he thinks I am."

Gone Girl also stars Ben Affleck as Nick Dunne, Amy's husband. It premieres Oct. 3.

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Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @SH____4.

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