It’s a happy 29th birthday to ex-Bond babe Rosamund Pike, who continues to score work despite reminding every guy who’s being intellectually honest of the girl who wouldn’t give them the time of day (or evening) in high school.

When it comes to actresses, some eyebrows work better than others, but Pike’s, in the photo above, is like a scythe, for Chrissakes, and it sets in stone the tone for every thing else about her countenance. It’s a hard-knock life, however arguably hot, for actresses with this little palpable sympathy and smoothed, “sisterly” edges, or at least the ability to feign such. Pike just doesn’t give off any sort of vibe that makes women identify with her.

So far she’s been well served by most of her choices. Pike’s seemingly natural coolness fit nicely in the legal thriller Fracture, where she played a steely corporate lawyer opposite Ryan Gosling’s slick professional climber, and hey, I even thought she was great in Doom… seriously. But there’s a precariously short shelf life for moon-faced, English-speaking foreign beauties. Audiences tend to regard them as interchangeable. After all, look what happened to Sarah Wynter. Wait a second… who?