Rosamund Pike refused to strip down to her underwear during an uncomfortable audition for a James Bond film - but still secured the part.
The 39-year-old Oscar-nominated actress made her film debut as Miranda Frost opposite Pierce Brosnan's Bond in 2002's Die Another Day, and was just 21 when she auditioned for the then-coveted role.
She had been told by producers to wear a sexy dress which she would have to then "drop", and was handed "three pieces of string" to wear underneath on the day.
Pike explained that she picked one of her mother's evening gowns to wear, and the costume designer was so flummoxed he "didn't know what to say".
"Then on the day - I don't know where I got the resolve and strength of mind at 21, but I just thought, 'actually, sod that, if they're going to see me in my underwear... He [the costume designer] said: 'That's a very beautiful dress, but in Bond films we wear things a little more like this'", the Gone Girl star recalled on Audible Sessions, a series of interviews recorded by Amazon's audiobook publisher.
"And he held up three pieces of string and I realised I was way out of my depth. So I put on this shimmering sheath, or whatever was the order of the day, but I didn't drop it."
Pike still got the role, and says she never once felt "uncomfortable" on set, affirming that producer Barbara Broccoli was "way ahead of the #MeToo movement".
"I look back over my experience on the Bond film and think, my goodness [the producer] Barbara Broccoli was way ahead of all this #MeToo movement," she continued.
"There wasn't an ounce of feeling uncomfortable while I was on that set."
Since playing a Bond Girl, Pike has gone on to land big movie roles, including Amy Dunne in Gillian Flynn and David Fincher's Gone Girl, for which she earned for her first Oscar nomination.
Meanwhile, Pike takes the lead as celebrated war correspondent Marie Colvin in upcoming biopic A Private War alongside Jamie Dornan and Stanley Tucci. She also provides the voice in animated TV series Moominvalley with Kate Winslet.
