Rosamund Pike talks about bringing beloved characters from book to screen

New Delhi: British star Rosamund Pike, known for portraying many beloved literary figures on screen, said playing a role based on a novel is a wonderfully rich experience and territory to explore.

In her career of over two decades, Pike has been part of adaptations of popular books such as "Pride & Prejudice", "Gone Girl", "Jack Reacher" and "A Private War".

She currently stars in Prime Video's popular fantasy series "The Wheel of Time", based on the book series of the same name by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson.

As an actor, Pike said she would often create a character’s inner world herself but having an author's writing is a bonus.

"As someone who's always loved English literature, if you can play a character that has source material in a novel, it's a wonderfully rich experience and territory to explore. A writer will hopefully give you clues as to what a character is thinking - which I would make up anyway - but if you've got a writer's instinct to be your guide, then that's wonderful," Pike told PTI in an interview.

Giving the example of her 2023 black comedy movie "Saltburn" by Emerald Fennell, Pike said the Oscar-winning director had originally wanted to write the movie as a novel.

"In fact, I felt that in her head, the characters were as rich as if they were a novel. And maybe one day she'll complete the novel, who knows?" she said.

With "The Wheel of Time", which comprises 14 novels with each spanning 700 plus pages, there is "an unbelievable source of history", she added.

"There is backstory, thoughts and notions about your character that you can just keep going back to like a Bible," Pike said.

“The Wheel of Time”, which will return with its third season on March 13, is set in a world where magic exists and only certain women are allowed to wield it.

It follows Moiraine Damodred (Pike) as a member of a powerful, all-female organisation ‘Aes Sedal,’ who goes on a journey across the world with five young people, one of whom she believes might be the reincarnation of a person prophesied to save or destroy humanity.

The third is primarily based on the fourth book of Jordan’s series “The Shadow Rising” and will take viewers to many new regions and cities across the fictional continent of the Westlands.

Pike, who has also been part of movies of various genres, starting with Bond film "Die Another Day", spy comedy "Johnny English" and dark comedy "I Care A Lot", said there is immense creativity and craftsmanship involved in bringing "The Wheel of Time" to life.

"When you make a show on this scale that involves very little that you can buy in the shop, you fuel intense creativity in every department. Everything in our show... from the caravans to the vehicles, to the weaponry, to the armour, to the clothes, to the hair and creatures... has to be made. And that is hundreds and thousands of hours of work from some of the most creative people in the industry. We didn't do any green screen or blue screen. We went to locations, it's all real. And so that world became real for us," she said.

Her co-star Josha Stradowski, who plays Rand al’Thor in the series, said that he had a great time working on "Daughter of the Night", the fourth episode of season two.

In this episode, Rand undergoes intense psychological and magical experiences that require him to embody different personas.

"It was a very refreshing process. So, there was one character where I played someone way older than myself. So, I had to go into a prosthetic for about seven hours and then walk on sets, walking past people that I've worked with over the last five years, who didn't recognise me until someone pointed out that it was me. So, that was a true gift and also a dream come true. And then not only playing him, but a lot of different characters," he said.

"The Wheel of Time" also stars Daniel Henney, Zoe Robins, Madeleine Madden, Marcus Rutherford, Donal Finn, Ceara Coveney and Sophie Okonedo. It is showrun by Rafe Judkins.

The series is co-produced by ‘Sony Pictures Television’ and ‘Amazon MGM Studios’.