Rosamund Pike grew up in London, the only daughter of two professional opera singers. Her key formative years were spent on the European continent, including a liberating few months in Italy as her father worked with modernist composer Hans Werne Henze.

At 16, Rosamund was accepted at the celebrated National Youth Theatre where she spent the following three summers, culminating in her playing the lead role in Romeo and Juliet when she was 18. It was that performance which brought her to the attention of agent Dallas Smith, who spent the next few years closely guiding her career. The play ran over the summer holidays prior to her taking a place at Oxford, where she was to study English Literature at Wadham College.

At Oxford, Rosamund continued to act and toured with the university production of The Taming of the Shrew. During summer recess, the tour took her on a magical six-week trip to Japan performing in theatres in Osaka, Kyoto, and the Tokyo Globe. Just prior to leaving, she spent two days shooting her role in the BBC TV film of A Rather English Marriage starring Tom Courtenay and Albert Finney playing Finney's niece, Celia.

Rosamund also spent evenings at the local repertory theatre, the famous Oxford Playhouse. She played the part of the restoration actress Elisabeth Barry in Stephen Jeffries' play The Libertine, as well as Ann in Arthur Miller's All My Sons.

Before she left for Oxford, Rosamund met with a leading casting director for a project she was keen to be part of. The project was delayed and nothing came of it, but a year later she received a call out of the blue and was cast as Lady Harriet in the BBC's lavish production of Wives and Daughters. It was her first job for the BBC, and she was delighted to be working with such distinguished actors as Michael Gambon, Francesca Annis and Bill Patterson. The part of Lady Harriet was a great challenge - outstanding equestrian, razor sharp, and a real fighter - but Rosamund's strong portrayal was critically acclaimed. Vanity Fair commented that she stood out like a banner snapping in the wind.

She returned to Oxford to finish her degree and do a final play at the Oxford Playhouse. She played the funny, bizarre Daisy in Ionesco's Rhinoceros directed by local director Delphine Schrank.

During the following summer vacation she spent ten weeks filming Love in a Cold Climate, an adaptation of the Nancy Mitford books. The extraordinary cast included Alan Bates, Sheila Gish, Celie Imrie, John Standing, and Anthony Andrews. Returning to Oxford for the final three terms, she took the role of Kyra in David Mare's Skylight directed by young film director and fellow Oxford student James Rogan, who went on to direct Dead Bolt Dead.