Gone Girl remains David Fincher’s most commercial films. Based on the best-seller by Gillian Flynn that you couldn’t avoid hearing about through co-workers, the press and even strangers, it was destined to be adapted for the big screen. And just two years later, it was, with Fincher taking on Gone Girl and it turning out to be – probably not surprisingly – his highest-grossing movie ever. But it could have easily surpassed the $367 million worldwide take had Flynn herself gotten final say in who was cast as Amy Elliott Dunne, the “missing” wife of Ben Affleck’s Nick Dunne.
While Rosamund Pike would find herself in awards contention via the Oscars, Golden Globes, SAG, and more, it was actually Reese Witherspoon that Gillian Flynn wanted. Enter David Fincher, who dismissed the idea of the choice to play the titular gone girl. As Witherspoon recounted on the La Culturistas podcast (via EW), “David sat me down — and this is not on David — but David’s like, ‘You’re totally wrong for this part, and I’m not putting you in it…I had all these conversations with the writer Gillian Flynn, and she was like, ‘No, I’d really like you to do it.’ But he was like, ‘You’re wrong.’”
By 2014, Witherspoon was on a bit of a cold streak; but even to her, it was a shock that David Fincher wouldn’t want to cast her in Gone Girl. “That was, first of all, an ego check for me. It was like, ‘No, you’re not right for everything.’ And he was right. He was totally right.” For what it’s worth, the product did play a vital role in getting the movie made, with the book being brought to her and serving as a producer.
While David Fincher never publicly said why Reese Witherspoon wouldn’t have worked as Amy in Gone Girl, I actually think she would have handled the role quite well. Think about the sort of characters she proved she could tackle later on – chiefly Madeline on Big Little Lies – and I say she would have served Amy to great acclaim.
What do you think? Would Reese Witherspoon made a good Amy for Fincher’s Gone Girl?
