Backstage With… Rosamund Pike on the ‘risk’ of bringing a written character to screen
She’s played the manipulative Amy in Gone Girl, has portrayed real people including the war journalist Marie Colvin, and was nominated for a Golden Globe just last year for her performance in black comedy thriller I Care A Lot.
But the new adaptation of The Wheel Of Time sees Rosamund Pike in a fantasy role, leading the cast of a series based on the bestselling novels by Robert Jordan.
She told Sky News’ Backstage podcast it’s nice to be doing something unexpected.
“I do like to surprise people, but I don’t go for the element of surprise at the expense of choices I believe in,” Pike said.
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“So it just seemed like this character came into my life for a reason, it sounds a bit sort of like mumbo jumbo, but I’d had a fairly tough ride with some of the big lives that I’ve played in recent years, like Marie Colvin and Marie Curie, and I thought this world that’s striving for balance in Wheel Of Time with this woman, who is kind of connected to the universe in quite a profound way and can channel elements, I thought, ‘this is going to be a role that I grow differently with and acquire some new skills through’.”
With any adaptation comes a weight of expectation from fans – but despite Jordan selling more than 90 million copies of the Wheel Of Time books, Pike isn’t just unphased by that expectation – she thrives off it.
She said: “I do like the responsibility of taking a much-loved character and fleshing them out and because I’m quite dedicated, I think as an actor, I do delve deeply and I think deeply and I like the responsibility.
“And I think there’s a risk involved because obviously you know that you won’t please everybody, and I think that little bit of danger of the fact that you could so easily fail, I think that also appeals to me.”
Pike’s co-star Daniel Henney admits he did wonder how fans would react to the cast.
Daniel Henney and Rosamund Pike in The Wheel Of Time. Pic: Amazon Studios
“In the beginning, there was some trepidation because of how many books have been sold and how beloved they are,” he told Backstage.
“But I was pleasantly surprised once we started and once we got to know The Wheel Of Time fans and the fan base, and how lovely they are, and how supportive they’ve been.
“I think that we’re just so lucky because it feels like they’re just an extension of us, a team, and they’ve been more of a support system than anything, which is not what I sort of anticipated in the beginning when you sign on to something that’s so beloved and there’s a lot of pressure, but it’s turned out to be a real asset for us, to be honest.”
Rosamund Pike in The Wheel Of Time. Pic: Amazon Studios
Pike and Henney’s characters are extremely close – but the relationship is purely platonic.
The actress said that meant developing “a kind-of shorthand” between the pair to show how well they know one another.
“They hardly have to make a tiny meeting of the eye to know what one another’s thinking, and it’s important that when they’re fighting together they don’t have to be in one another’s eyeline to know what the other one is doing,” Pike explained.
“So things like that, which is perhaps not immediately obvious, but often we are back-to-back, but we’re completely aware of one another in space and anticipating the other person’s move.
“It’s a lovely thing Robert Jordan wrote in the development of this bond, it’s a really cool thing to play with, and one I think the audiences will really, really enjoy.”
Henney said it meant straying from the norm when it came to filming certain scenes, saying: “I remember the stunt guys when they choreographed the sequences initially, they’d done a great job, but there were some moments where they included moments for me to look directly at her and to sort of make those moments stand out.
“And I said, I didn’t want that, I wanted it to be much more sort of on an unspoken level, that we don’t have to look at each other, we could feel each other.”
Rosamund Pike in The Wheel Of Time. Pic: Amazon Studios
Pike’s character can use magic, harnessing light in order to cast spells, and she told Sky News she drew from the practices of Tai Chi and Qigong in order to make the performance feel authentic.
“I want to feel that when she’s pulling these threads, there’s something that she’s actually getting hold of… And I wanted to just avoid at all costs something that doesn’t feel connected, the kind of relying totally on visual effects to make me look cool,” Pike said.
“I just thought ‘I’ve got to believe because surely the most interesting part of this character is the cost to her of channelling – what is the physical toll of these massive elemental forces coming through your body?’ That’s what’s surely interesting about the one power.
“Robert Jordan stresses that if you’re not trained in it, it’s so intoxicating to use it that you draw more and more until finally, it burns you through and through, like an incredibly strong narcotic.”
The Wheel Of Time is out on Amazon Prime Video – hear our review in the latest episode of Backstage – the film and TV podcast from Sky News.
Despite The Who’s Quadrophenia being set over 60 years ago, Pete Townshend’s themes of identity, mental health, and modern masculinity are just as relevant today.
The album is having a renaissance as Pete Townshend’s Quadrophenia A Mod ballet is being brought to life via dance at Sadler’s Wells East, and Sky News has an exclusive first look.
As Townshend puts it, the album he wrote is “perfect” for the stage.
Pete Townshend
“My wife Rachel did the orchestration for me, and as soon as I heard it I said to her it would make a fabulous ballet and we never really let that go,” he tells Sky News.
“Heavy percussion, concussive sequences. They’re explosive moments. They’re also romantic movement moments.”
If you identify with the demographics of Millennial, Gen Y or Gen Z, you might not be familiar with The Who and Mod culture.
But in post-war Britain the Mods were a cultural phenomenon characterised by fashion, music, and of course, scooters. The young rebels were seen as a counter-culture to the establishment and The Who, with Roger Daltry’s lead vocals and Pete Townshend’s writing, were the soundtrack.
Quadrophenia the album is widely regarded as an essay on the British adolescent experience at the time, focusing on the life of fictional protagonist Jimmy – a young Mod struggling with his sanity, self-doubt, and alienation.
Townshend sets the rock opera in 1965 but thinks its themes of identity, mental health, and modern masculinity are just as relevant today.
He says: “The phobias and the restrictions and the unwritten laws about how young men should behave. The ground that they broke, that we broke because I was a part of it.
“Men were letting go of [the] wartime-related, uniform-related stance that if I wear this kind of outfit it makes me look like a man.”
Paris Fitzpatrick and Pete Townshend. Pic: Johan Persson
This struggle of modern masculinity and identity appears to be echoing today as manosphere influencers like Andrew Tate, incel culture, and Netflix’s Adolescence make headlines.
For dancer Paris Fitzpatrick, who takes on the lead role of Jimmy, the story resonates.
Paris Fitzpatrick, who takes on the lead role of Jimmy in the ballet
“I think there’s a connection massively and I think there may even be a little more revival in some way,” he tells Sky News.
“I love that myself. I love non-conforming to gender norms and typical masculinity; I think it’s great to challenge things.”
Despite the album being written before he was born, the dancer says he was familiar with the genre already.
“I actually did an art GCSE project about Mods and rockers and Quadrophenia,” he says.
“I think we’ll be able to bring it to new audiences and hopefully, maybe people will be inspired to to learn more about their music and the whole cultural movement of the early 60s.”
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In 1979, the album was adapted into a film directed by Franc Roddam starring Ray Winstone and Sting but Townshend admits because the film missed key points he is “not a big fan”.
“What it turned out to be in the movie was a story about culture, about social scenario and less about really the specifics of mental illness and how that affects young people,” he adds, also complimenting Roddam’s writing for the film.
Perhaps a testament to Pete Townshend’s creativity, Quadrophenia started as an album, was successfully adapted to film and now it will hit the stage as a contemporary ballet.
It appears that over six decades later Mod culture is still cool and their issues still relatable.
Quadrophenia, a Mod Ballet will tour to Plymouth Theatre Royal from 28 May to 1 June 2025, Edinburgh Festival Theatre from 10 to 14 June 2025 and the Mayflower, Southampton from 18 to 21 June 2025 before having its official opening at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London on 24 June running to 13 July 2025 and then visiting The Lowry, Salford from 15 to 19 July 2025.
Russell Brand has been charged with rape and two counts of sexual assault between 1999 and 2005.
The Metropolitan Police say the 50-year-old comedian, actor and author has also been charged with one count of oral rape and one count of indecent assault.
The charges relate to four women.
He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday 2 May.
Police have said Brand is accused of raping a woman in the Bournemouth area in 1999 and indecently assaulting a woman in the Westminster area of London in 2001.
He is also accused of orally raping and sexually assaulting a woman in Westminster in 2004.
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Ashna Hurynag discusses Russell Brand’s charges
The fourth charge alleges that a woman was sexually assaulted in Westminster between 2004 and 2005.
Police began investigating Brand, from Oxfordshire, in September 2023 after receiving a number of allegations.
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The comedian has denied the accusations and said he has “never engaged in non-consensual activity”.
He added in a video on X: “Of course, I am now going to have the opportunity to defend these charges in court, and I’m incredibly grateful for that.”
Metropolitan Police Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, who is leading the investigation, said: “The women who have made reports continue to receive support from specially trained officers.
“The Met’s investigation remains open and detectives ask anyone who has been affected by this case, or anyone who has any information, to come forward and speak with police.”
Tom Cruise has paid tribute to Val Kilmer, wishing his Top Gun co-star “well on the next journey”.
Cruise, speaking at the CinemaCon film event in Las Vegas on Thursday, asked for a moment’s silence to reflect on the “wonderful” times shared with the star, whom he called a “dear friend”.
Kilmer, who died of pneumonia on Tuesday aged 65, rocketed to fame starring alongside Cruise in the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun, playing Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky, a rival fighter pilot to Cruise’s character Maverick.
Tom Cruise said ‘I wish you well on the next journey’. Pic: AP
Val Kilmer in 2017. Pic: AP
His last part was a cameo role in the 2022 blockbuster sequel Top Gun: Maverick.
Cruise, on stage at Caesars Palace on Thursday, said: “I’d like to honour a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer. I can’t tell you how much I admire his work, how grateful and honoured I was when he joined Top Gun and came back later for Top Gun: Maverick.
“I think it would be really nice if we could have a moment together because he loved movies and he gave a lot to all of us. Just kind of think about all the wonderful times that we had with him.
“I wish you well on the next journey.”
The moment of silence followed a string of tributes from Hollywood figures including Cher, Francis Ford Coppola, Antonio Banderas and Michelle Monaghan.
Kilmer’s daughter Mercedes told the New York Times on Wednesday that the actor had died from pneumonia.
Tom Cruise at Caesars Palace on Thursday. Pic: AP
Diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, Kilmer discussed his illness and recovery in his 2020 memoir Your Huckleberry and Amazon Prime documentary Val.
He underwent radiation and chemotherapy treatments for the disease and also had a tracheostomy which damaged his vocal cords and permanently gave him a raspy speaking voice.
Kilmer played Batman in the 1995 film Batman Forever and received critical acclaim for his portrayal of rock singer Jim Morrison in the 1991 movie The Doors.
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He also starred in True Romance and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, as well as playing criminal Chris Shiherlis in Michael Mann’s 1995 movie Heat and Doc Holliday in the 1993 film Tombstone.
In 1988 he married British actress Joanne Whalley, whom he met while working on fantasy adventure Willow.
The couple had two children before divorcing in 1996.
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