(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Rosamund Pike wishes she had been a Bond girl in Casino Royale because the female characters were more active and less decorative.

The British actress was just 23 when she appeared in 2002 movie Die Another Day, which proved to be Pierce Brosnans last outing as the famously suave spy. Pierce was later replaced by Daniel Craig who made his first appearance as Bond in the edgier movie Casino Royale. Although Rosamund enjoyed her role in Die Another Day, she admits she would love to have played a more challenging character.

"Unfortunately, it all came together perfectly on Casino Royale, rather than on ours making the women more active and less decorative, she said in an interview with British newspaper The Guardian. That's [producer] Barbara Broccoli's influence: who says a Bond girl can't have sex appeal and brains? That was her thinking."

Rosamund has since gone on to appear in films including An Education, Made in Dagenham and most recently Barneys Version alongside Paul Giamatti. She is developing a reputation for having comedic timing but can also play serious roles. Despite her success, people still associate her with the Bond franchise and this can be frustrating for her.

"But everyone sees the movies, that's the main benefit. Sometimes it irks, when people come up in the street and say, 'Oh I'm a huge James Bond fan' when you obviously want them to be a fan of your work in particular, she explained. But the Bond girl curse never happened to me. I was too young to even know what it was. And anyway, wasn't that where Paul Giamatti spotted me? It all comes around in the end." (C) Cover Media