Saltburn star Rosamund Pike reveals the unusual ways she got into character for her BAFTA-nominated role

Rosamund Pike is hotly tipped to win the best supporting actress at the BAFTAs tomorrow for her role as matriarch Lady Elsbeth Catton in Saltburn. 

Sharp-tongued Elsbeth is one of the standout stars of Emerald Fennell's dark drama, with Pike's performance of Felix's shallow mother described as 'wickedly funny' and having '“Oscar nomination” stamped all over it' in an article on The Guardian.

In a recent interview with The Sun, Pike revealed one of the unusual ways she got into character. Describing how she approached the repressed character she said: "A sexual anorexic would say, 'Sex is my greatest need and also my greatest fear'. 

"And that gave me a very interesting way to play Elspeth. Because it’s your greatest need - you want to be desired, you want people to look at you sexually - but it’s also something you loathe." 

The actor also explained how she read Vogue magazines from 2006, the year in which Saltburn is set, and was influenced by an alleged celebrity incident during the Noughties concerning Keith Richards. 

She explains: “The fun thing was improvising as Elspeth because I basically had to take any story that was of the time and sort of insert myself into it. 

"It was the time that Keith ­Richards was reported to have snorted his father’s ashes. And I thought that was a kind of marvellous story for Elspeth to have got on and she could have said, 'Oh, gosh, you know, when I was in Mustique and Keith came to me and offered me a line of his father’s ashes ...'"

It looks like Saltburn could be a big winner on the night, with five nominations at this year's BAFTA Film Awards.

Here's how to watch the BAFTAs, which airs on Sunday 18 February at 1900 (GMT) from the Royal Festival Hall in London.

Watch this space for further updates on what to expect on the night - and why not start with our round-up of the best ever BAFTAs red carpet looks?