When Rosamund Pike's name was floating around the rumor mill for Matthew Vaughn's X-Men: First Class, the assumption was that she would play Emma Frost until Alice Eve got the job, and then that she would play Moira MacTaggert. Whether or not Pike ever had the job, though, we'll never know-- THR is now reporting that Rose Byrne has the job, just in time to join the production before it starts at the end of the month.
Though no one really knows how the characters will fit into the movie, in the comics MacTaggert was both a colleague and love interest of Charlies Xavier, a.k.a. Professor X, who will be played by James McAvoy. She helped found Xavier's Scool for Gifted Youngsters, which is presumably where she'll fit into this origin story while also making time to make out with McAvoy (and really, who wouldn't?)
Byrne has a regular gig on TV's Damages but got a chance to stretch with a funny turn as a spoiled pop princess in this summer's Get Him to the Greek; doing superhero movie duty looks like just another example of a young actress branching out as she attempts to establish herself as a proper star. With so many names crowding the First Class lineup-- Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon and the aforementioned Alice Ever are also on board-- it probably won't become Byrne's show, but hey, between this, the TV show and the ridiculous "Ring Around My Posey" music video from Greek, no one will ever be able to claim the girl doesn't have range.
