Missi Meets Nancy - A "Gone Girl" Mirror
Saturday, December 13, 2014 at 12:52PM 
Editor's Note: As previously noted, The Film Experience is proud to hand over the blogging reigns to the actress MISSI PYLE from Sunday afternoon to Monday afternoon. But here's an early bit from the woman herself before she seizes full control!
I just interviewed Nancy Grace for The Hollywood Reporter. It came out yesterday. I was so nervous. What if she thought I was a dick. You know? For lampooning her. But she was totally flattered and really charming.
How I got into character for Gone Girl? I googled Nancy Grace. (I don't know how any of us did any research without the internet. Its crazy.) I only really knew her as a caricature. This is the first video I watched to do research. It's Nancy interviewing Elizabeth Smart. Elizabeth gently lays into her for bringing up painful things from her past and Nancy dodges it pretty well...
And I thought. Yeah. That is her. She is a master and getting you right to that point where you might explode. Thats what I tried to do in the film. That and wear a LOT of leather.
More on Gone Girl. Missi returns tomorrow through Monday to talk Oscars, her favorite movie of all time, and life as a working actor. Don't miss it.
Reader Comments (7)
I adore Missi and can't wait to read the rest of this series. I'm not that familiar with the entity that calls herself Nancy Grace, but that video said it all. She's almost beyond parody. Hilarious: "What if she thought I was a dick?" "Wear a LOT of leather."
Fincher outdid himself with his choices for the supporting cast for "Gone Girl." And I hope the satire that Missi embodied so well does some good for the culture (though I'm not holding my breath).
She was PERFECT in the movie. I love when she shows up to the house with the electronic cat. Hahaha
MISSI: you rock, girl!
I've loved you since you were horrified by Ross's teeth on Friends! :)
I can't wait for your guestblogging!
Missi Pyle is awesome. I loved her in Bringing Down the House where she and Queen Latifah got into a fight and she managed to steal the show.
That video is a masterclass in passive aggressiveness. But yeah, PERFECT casting. Missi was exactly how I imagined that character in the book.
Missi Pyle and Sela Ward both perfectly exemplified modern television "journalism" with their roles. Sela's role was a bit more ambiguous (is it a version of Oprah? Diane Sawyer?), but Missi's character was blatantly Nancy Grace. It was bold, and her, Gillian Flynn and David Fincher deserve all the kudos for making it work.
The variations of female characters in Gone Girl from Kim Dickens to Carrie Coon to Pyle to Sela Ward to Emily Ratajkowski as the mistress to Pike herself showed how much better Hollywood could be if there were more female voices in major studio productions. All of them are so distinct and completely different animals from the other. Fincher's track record had largely been associated with male characters but he proved with his casting choices and playfulness with Gillian Flynn's script that it's just a matter of knowing what movie he is making.