It's still hard to imagine that anyone could outdo the original, Swedish "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" actress Noomi Rapace when it comes to Salanderitude (yes, we are totally copyrighting that word)...but the more we hear from Rooney Mara, the more it looks like the American girl is going to give the original Lisbeth a serious run for her money.
Rooney is on the cover of Allure magazine's January issue, where not even a high-fashion beachfront photo shoot could fully erase the vibe of the bony, haunted ladyhacker—and her interview leaves no question that she went all out to perform this career-making role.
And when we say that she went all out, what we actually mean is that she...um, took it all off. Because for real, there's a lot of naked Rooney in this movie. But unlike a lot of young Hollywood celebs, the actress met her nude scenes without much more than a shrug.
“Nudity is such a huge part of the character in the book, so I never thought twice about it," she said. "There was no time for hesitation. I didn’t have time to second-guess anything or be scared; I just showed up and was comfortable.”
In fact, it sounds like nothing fazed her—not the drastic cut and dye job that's Lisbeth's trademark...
“People always ask, ‘Were you crying when they cut your hair?’ And it didn’t freak me out at all. I was really happy to do it.”
...or, for that matter, the real, actual nipple piercing she sported for the role.
“I’m naked quite a lot in the movie, and I thought, she has it in the book, and she should have it [in the movie]. Because of all the tattoos and the makeup and the piercings, and the physical transformations my body has to go through, it would always feel sort of like I was in costume, even if I was naked. It just felt like a good one to get—a necessary one to get.”
Right. You say "necessary." We say OMG OW OW OW OW OWWWWWIEEEE. But after seeing just how Rooney's transformed for this film (check out her total evolution via Allure's style timeline)—and how much the cool, collected Lisbeth seems to have become an integral part of her personality—we can't wait to see her (and her nipple piercing) on the big screen.
Would YOU ever needle your nips for a movie role?
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