She starred in one of the most successful music videos in YouTube history — the hugely provocative and controversial Robin Thicke vehicle “Blurred Lines” has more than 350 million hits — and now British-born model-actress Emily Ratajkowski is featured in one of the hottest films of 2014, the Golden Globe- and Oscar-nominated “Gone Girl.”
Based on the 2012 bestselling novel by author (and Northwestern grad) Gillian Flynn, the film stars Rosamund Pike and Ben Affleck as Amy and Nick Dunne, the proverbial tony New York-based newlyweds with a seemingly perfect marriage. One morning, five years later (and now residing in Missouri), Amy goes missing amid very suspicious (and violent circumstances) and the couple’s world completely unravels amid a multi-layered thriller. (Flynn recently won a Critics Choice Award for best adapted screenplay of her novel and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for the same.)
“Gone Girl” was recently released in Blu-ray and DVD formats by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. The Blu-ray edition comes packaged with a 32-page collectible children’s book “Amazing Amy Tattle Tale,” “written” by the film’s characters, Rand and Marybeth Elliott. Genius.
Spoiler alert!
Ratajkowski, in her first feature film role, stars as Nick’s former student, the twentysomething Andie, with whom he’s having an affair.
“I read the book; I loved it. It’s really a page-turner,” Ratajkowski said in a recent interview touting the home video release of the film. “And I liked [Andie’s] character in the book. My joke with David [Fincher] is that she’s the only one who gets out OK. She’s the one who survives. But I was always interested more in the ideas behind the film — the idea that we bring out these qualities in each other and play these roles for each other. It’s true with Nick and Amy and with Nick and Andie. Andie seems him as a door to another world. And he sees his younger, pumped-up self in her. I loved that whole idea in the book and the movie.”
“We didn’t talk about the specifics of the character, but instead we talked about the importance of knowing what the movie was trying to say,” Ratajkowski said when asked if she had talked to Flynn about the role before filming started. “She didn’t really give me any advice, but she did say that [Andie’s] role was really hard to cast.”
Emily had only high praises for Affleck, with whom she shares the majority of her brief screen time, and for Fincher.
“He’s an incredible professional. It was my first [movie role] and I really enjoyed the learning process, and learning from him. David is an incredible director. He works incredibly hard and is really dedicated.”
As for her semi-nude scene in “Gone Girl,” Emily, who is not shy about baring some or all in magazine spreads, on Instagram and music videos, said: “It was a really professional setting. And it was important to the story. It really didn’t feel much like anything. It was more comfortable than a risqué fashion shoot because in a movie you’re in character and you’re serving a purpose for the story. When you do a fashion shoot you hope it’s not cheesy, and as a model it’s really out of your control. And having a film director you really trust, it’s very comfortable.”
Ratajkowski is currently the new face/body of H&M, following several high-profile magazine spreads including GQ, and the 2014 Swimsuit Issue for Sports Illustrated.
“Sports Illustrated was amazing. It’s a great group of people. It’s an amazing legacy to be included in the long line of beautiful women who have been [featured]. I like the way SI celebrates the individuality of women.”
To stay in shape, Emily says she tries to follow a well-rounded, healthy lifestyle.
“I love food!,” she says. “I also am really a health-conscious person. I do yoga. I don’t like junk food so I don’t eat Doritos when I cheat. I don’t drink sodas. But I love pastries! Almond croissants and chocolate croissants. That’s what I cheat with.”
And as for the video that put her on the map, Emily would only say: “I really did trust the director [Diane Martel] of the video because at the same time you are not in creative control.”
That being said, Ratajkowski, whose next film project is “We Are Your Friends” opposite Zac Efron, says she now has mixed feelings about “Blurred Lines.”
“Ya, I liked [the song], but I mean I’m a little sick of it now.
