Gone Girl Murder Scene Required 36 Pairs of Underwear, So Much Blood

Gone Girl was really a mindfuck, wasn’t it? I won’t spoil it here, but the entire thing hinges on a twist halfway through the film and then another twist (prominently featuring a gruesome murder) towards the end. And the way that murder scene had to be shot? That’s the biggest mindfuck of all.

When you think of how movies are shot these days, you think CGI and special effects. But director David Fincher isn’t having any of that. As you may recall, Fincher is meticulous and works to make sure that each scene in his movies isn’t just believable, but rehearsed and executed in the most perfect way possible. That’s why that bloody murder scene towards the end of the movie wasn’t just a couple of take and then a break for lunch, but days and days of pure torture for everyone involved — especially the 36 pairs of panties that Rosamund Pike ruined while filming the entire gory thing. And, according to an interview the actress gave to Vanity Fair for its February issue, since Fincher demanded that the scene be shot 36 times (not including the week of rehearsals), Pike and Neil Patrick Harris not only had to bleed all over each other as nauseam, but they also had to take 36 showers and change their clothes 36 times.

All that blood and used underwear do have a benefit, of course. Since the film has become as much of a success as the book (it is very good and has already given me several ideas as to how I would murder my partner and take his Nintendo collection for my own) Pike says she can’t even buy cold cuts without being recognized. And all of that hard work and character study Pike had to do to become Amy Dunn (which, by the way, is how I refer to people who annoy me now) has made her grow as an actress. Well, changing bloody underwear 36 times over the course of only a few days will do that to you, I guess. It builds character.