There are some key similarities between Rosamund Pike's characters in Netflix's I Care a Lot and the 2014 film Gone Girl.
For starters, Amy Dunne and Marla Grayson are both incredibly intelligent women, seemingly underestimated time and again because of their appearances and gender. With each misconception, Amy and Marla are able to pull off the perfect crime.
But that's about it when it comes to similarities. Because, as Rosamund exclusively explained to E! News, Marla Grayson is no Gone Girl.
In a Zoom interview, the actress tells us that Amy and Marla can't exactly be compared, explaining, "You know what's interesting about Marla as opposed to Marla? Amy Dunne commits murder."
In I Care a Lot, out now on Netflix, Marla wheels and deals her way into legal guardianships of the elderly, draining them of their life savings and autonomy. And while it's admittedly unethical, Rosamund points out that Marla "isn't actually breaking the law."
"She's very devious and she's doing something truly shocking but the law is set up for people like her to win," Rosamund reflects. "So in a way, you know, is the villain Marla or is the villain the system, which allows her to succeed?"
She acknowledges there are "parallels" between Amy and Marla, but describes the latter as a "scrappier" character, who "thinks on her feet." Whereas Amy is "a very strategic planner," as evident in her journaling and general scheming.
Rosamund shares her admiration for "the intelligence of both of their plans and the way they play the system," but notes that their methods of deception "play with traditional tropes of feminity."
These tropes are distinctly different in that Amy creates a narrative in which Nick Dunne, played by Ben Affleck in the psychological thriller, is the obvious suspect. As the Golden Globes nominee explains, "In Amy's case, she gets the whole world to believe she's the victim and then we realize she's actually driving the story."
Then there's Marla, a vape-smoking legal guardian in finely tailored suits, sporting a perfectly cut bob. "She plays with the notion of being sincere, trustworthy, warm, caring... The nurturing qualities of femaleness, of women, and she takes them and abuses them. And, you know, plays with them for ill ends, and it's a very interesting space to play in."
Rosamund, who is also known her less intense roles in Pride & Prejudice and An Education, says she was enticed to play Marla and Amy, "because I think it shines an interesting light on our society and these kind of people who definitely exist."
As for how she and writer-director J Blakeson created Marla's backstory, or raison d'être, she simply states, "It doesn't really behoove me to talk about it, because Marla is not asking for your sympathy."
That being said, I Care a Lot is worth a watch ahead of the 2021 Golden Globes. After all, Rosamund's portrayal of the devious Marla earned the actress her third Golden Globe nod, the first being for her role as Amy in Gone Girl.
And, as the old saying goes, third time's the charm.
At the 78th Golden Globe Awards, Rosamund was announced as the winner of Best Actress in a Movie, Comedy or Musical. In her acceptance speech, the actress shared, "J Blakeson was my director and collaborator and partner in crime, it was fromthe corridors of his mind that this character sprang... Thank you for the words. Thank you for the cast. And Eiza, my wife, I love you... Finally, maybe I just have to thank America's broken legal system for making it possible to make stories like this. Thank you."