Rosamund Pike: Women are 'obsessed with youth and beauty' - unlike men

The actor plays alongside David Oyelowo, 40, in biographical drama A United Kingdom

Rosamund Pike plays the Ruth, the British wife of Botswana's first president, in A United Kingdom (Rex)

Women are obsessed with youth and beauty and stunting feminism’s progress as a result, A United Kingdom star Rosamund Pike has said.

In an interview with The Telegraph, the British actor spoke of being constantly reminded of her age in tabloid media coverage – unlike her male co-stars.

But according to Pike, who is 37, it is women rather than men who have a tendency to judge other women in this way, particularly when significant age gaps occur between characters.

While shooting for her new film on London’s South Bank, she said paparazzi arrived to take pictures: “It appears on the Mail Online, and it’s like, ‘36-year-old Rosamund Pike gets proposed to by David Oyelowo.’

“Unfortunately, I think it’s coming from other women. I don’t think men read that and even pay attention.

“Feminism will never reach the next stage until women stop competing with each other on the level of looks.”

Best known for her roles as Bond girl Miranda Frost in Die Another Day and the deceptive Amy in Gone Girl, Pike has spoken out previously about the “double standards” of the film industry for creating an abundance of younger roles for female actors.

Citing 54-year-old Tom Cruise, with whom she co-starred in 2012 thriller Jack Reacher, she said: “With the guy, the trick is, you keep getting older, but the women all stay the same age. ‘Would you mind just staying around the same age at all times?!’”

“Recently, I tried really hard to get a male co-star who was 10 years younger than me, because I felt he was right for the part… But they Were. Not. Having it. If it was the other way round, no one would think twice.”

“Men have always openly competed on levels of success and money, though. Women have had to make do with youth and beauty.”

In A United Kingdom, released later this month, Pike plays the role of Ruth, a white woman from London who marries Prince Seretse Khama of Bechuanaland (now Botswana).

“Now that I’m over 30,” she said, “people are giving me all these roles for people in their 20s.

“You become sillier and more youthful as you get older, maybe, because you’re over all your anxieties.

“That’s why, ‘The 37-year-old actress’ is not brilliant when you’re trying to pass yourself off as 28.”