Five secrets of Oscar nominee Rosamund Pike

It has been an amazing ride for Gone Girl actress Rosamund Pike, who, as Amy Dunne, puts the freak on her screen husband Ben Affleck and bloodily dispatches Neil Patrick Harris.

Her Oscar-nominated performance garnered major kudos upon the movie's release in October and she gave birth to her second child in December.

"To have this new life and this complete career turning point at the same time — it's a pretty heady cocktail," says Pike, 36. "But the two are so separate."

The actress gives USA TODAY's Bryan Alexander five insights into her world.

1. Her partner likes that Amy Dunne lives within her.

Some might be put off by Pike's dead-on sociopath performance. Not her true-life partner, Robie Uniacke. "He says it's part of the appeal," says Pike.

She found a gateway into her character via online forums such as sociopathworld.com, which discusses, for example, how sociopaths study and feign emotion to appear like regular people.

"It's people owning it in private, anonymously," says Pike. "There's a feeling there that one is not unlucky to be a sociopath. I think they feel more charismatic, more empowered. Life is good, without getting hung on emotional issues."

2. She has natural-born pipes, but she hasn't shown them off on film.

London-born Pike is the only child of opera singers Caroline and Julian Pike. She, too, has vocal chops, but hasn't had screen occasion to share them. Into the Woods director Rob Marshall recently asked informally if she could sing on screen.

"I felt very inclined to say yes. But I have yet to sing in a professional capacity," says Pike. "Never say never."

In the meantime, she's happy to sing Janis Joplin and Bob Dylan in her car.

3. She wants her baby to start an awards blog.

Pike's 11-week-old son, Atom (big brother Solo is 2), has lived a charmed existence since birth. It's been such a whirlwind that Pike wants to start an awards blog from the infant's point of view.

"He has Edward Norton reciting Where the Wild Things Are in the lift. Or he meets David Beckham backstage at the Royal Opera House," says Pike. "You know, it's funny this life he's living. And he's completely oblivious to it. It's wonderful."

4. She's still blown away by her Bond girl appearance.

Pike was thrust into the limelight as Bond girl Miranda Frost in 2002's Die Another Day, alongside Pierce Brosnan's 007. The climactic fight with Halle Berry aboard a crashing plane was surreal.

"The whole set was rocking. You could see heat from the flames," says Pike. "In this insane environment, we were having to perform these very technical moves. I have never been part of anything like that since."

The tussle ended with Berry thrusting a knife through a book into Pike's chest, saying, "Read this, (expletive)." Pike thinks the final expletive was ad-libbed.

"It was the relish with which she said it," says Pike. "I remember thinking, does she hate me?"

5. Her fashion choices include a pet snake called Oswald.

Pike makes an impression every time she goes on the red carpet. She loves the fashion world, but does not enjoy the dress-up-for-the-cameras part. "I am not a clothes horse by profession," says Pike. "I will welcome the day with open arms when I can just turn up in jeans and a T-shirt and not give a (flip). That day hasn't come yet."

She has been known to take her corn snake Oswald to dinner and wear him as a bracelet. "People will say, 'I like your bracelet' and I say, 'Thanks, that's Oswald.' "