Reese Witherspoon says losing 'Gone Girl role was' an 'ego check'

Los Angeles, Sep 19 (IANS) Hollywood star Reese Witherspoon has spoken about her exit from the 2014 thriller film “Gone Girl,” which eventually went to actress Rosmund Pike.

Witherspoon opened up about the film while it was in development. At the time, Witherspoon had been attached to star in the adaptation as Amy Elliott Dunne, receiving approval from author Gillian Flynn and shepherding the project through her production company.

However, once director David Fincher came aboard, he decided against casting her in the role, reports variety.com.

“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,'” Reese said on the “Las Culturistas” podcast.

She added: “I had all these conversations with the writer Gillian Flynn, and she was like, ‘No, I’d really like you to do it.’ … But (Fincher) was like, ‘You’re wrong.’”

The thriller, which also stars Ben Affleck, proved a breakthrough for Pike, who scored her first Academy Award nomination for the film, landing a nod for best actress.

“That was, first of all, an ego check for me,” Witherspoon recalled about her conversation with Fincher.

“It was like, ‘No, you’re not right for everything.’ And he was right. He was totally right. … Fincher just killed it. And Rosamund Pike is so diabolical and Ben Affleck is sort of the rube on the other side of it.”

“Gone Girl” revolves around Nick Dunne discovers that the entire media focus has shifted on him when his wife, Amy Dunne, mysteriously disappears on the day of their fifth wedding anniversary.

Witherspoon ended up scoring a best actress Oscar nomination that same year anyways, leading the biopic “Wild” from her soon-to-be “Big Little Lies” director Jean-Marc Vallée.

Witherspoon produced both “Wild” and “Gone Girl.” Now, she is starring in the fourth season of “The Morning Show.”

--IANS

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