Rosamund Pike thinks anger is "liberating".
The ‘A Private War’ actress – who has sons Solo, six, and Atom, four, with partner Robie Uniacke – believes people are taught the emotion is bad because they don’t know enough about it but she thinks it can be empowering.
She said: "I’ve never been frightened of anger. I think anger can be liberating. I encourage my children to say, ‘I am angry because… Before you attack verbally, you could feel empowered. People are taught that anger is bad. It’s not an emotion we’re very educated in.
"Sometimes we feel upset or disempowered or weak, and what we’re actually feeling is angry but we haven’t deciphered it."
The 39-year-old star – who plays legendary war reporter Marie Colvin in ‘A Private War’ – thinks anger can be "very creative" and doesn’t understand the purpose of anger-management classes.
She added to Britain’s Marie Claire magazine: "Anger-management classes − are they about trying to suppress it or articulate it? I’ve no idea.
"One of Marie’s great lines in the film is when someone says, ‘I don’t know that you should go into Syria,’ and she says, ‘It is so anger-making it’s worth it.’ I wrote that out on the top of my script.
"Anger can be a terribly constructive feeling if harnessed in the right way. Indifference is the great destroyer, but anger can be very creative."
Two years ago, the actress said she was happy in supporting roles, but these days she’s just as comfortable to be the lead.
She said: "I think that probably bespoke a certain fear, didn’t it? It suggested that if a film fails and you’re number one, then it’s on your head. That’s the pressure of being number one on the call sheet.
"I wasn’t number one on the call sheet [with ‘Gone Girl’], I was number two [to Ben Affleck].
"I’ve played two lead women in the past year and I’ve had great male actors support me. Now I’m like, ‘Yes, I’m ready for this.’ "
Rosamund Pike liberated by anger
