Rosamund Pike Calls Out Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop, Says People Are Being 'Conned' By Wellness Industry
The Oscar-nominated actress Rosamund Pike is shedding light on the true motives of the wellness industry. The actress acknowledged its allure but cautioned against the notion that simply striving for health is sufficient, as this mindset can lead to perilous practices. In an interview with The Guardian, published on Sunday, the 44-year-old Gone Girl actress openly discussed her new audio series on BBC Sounds titled People Who Knew Me. The series incorporates satirical elements and reportedly makes references to Gwyneth Paltrow's wellness brand, Goop.
"I think we’re all being conned by the wellness industry. This idea that it’s no longer enough to be healthy and we have to be 'well' is something that needs to be interrogated. Yet it’s so seductive because it’s in pursuit of things that people are ashamed to want, like youth, beauty, and fitness," The Die Another Day star told the outlet.
The British actress further elaborated on her thoughts and emotions regarding the pervasive wellness industry. "#MeToo gave women an opportunity to escape some of the demands put on them. Now, in a way, people are voluntarily flocking back to being controlled but in a different guise, by these wellness claims. It’s politicized our food, politicized our exercise and I think it’s really dangerous," she said.
As per People, Pike has previously addressed the societal norms and standards surrounding beauty. During her appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show in 2021, Pike shared her experience of her body being digitally altered in various movie posters: "For the poster for Johnny English [Reborn], my breasts were augmented. In the poster for the character shot, I've got a really impressive chest. Which I don't have." While conversing with Clarkson on her talk show, Pike recounted a specific incident when she discovered that her eyes had been digitally altered to appear brown instead of their natural blue for the poster of the 2019 film Radioactive. Expressing her confusion, she stated, "I still don't quite know why."
"Those are the obvious times, right? When you do notice, 'Oh, I've got brown eyes,' or, 'I've got massive breasts.' But there's probably countless times where our image is doctored and we don't notice it. Because I think we're all losing our grip on what we really look like," Pike said, emphasizing that it was a disconcerting realization that there might have been numerous instances in which her photos were altered without her awareness or detection.
In Pike's upcoming audio drama, which includes Hugh Laurie in the cast, the story revolves around her character Emily Morris. Emily seizes the tragic events of 9/11 as an opportunity to stage her own death and escape to California, assuming a new identity as Connie Prynne. As described by the BBC, Pike's character is confronted with a breast cancer diagnosis 14 years later and faces the dilemma of how to reveal her hidden past to her 13-year-old daughter, Claire.
