'The Girl With The Dragoon Tattoo' EW Cover: Rooney Mara Talks Nudity, Piercings And Motorcycles

Casting Lisbeth Salander wasn't the easiest thing for director David Fincher. He already remarked that Scarlett Johansson was too alluring for the role. So when he offered Rooney Mara the title role in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," it came with some very unsavory stipulations.

In this week's Entertainment Weekly cover story, the famed director of "The Social Network" recalled that he put on no airs about what Mara would have to do. "I told Rooney, 'You're ­going to be emaciated, you have to be naked, you have to get raped [on screen], get pierced, smoke cigarettes, ride a motorcycle."

It turned out to be a very long ride for Mara, who told Empire Magazine that, at first, Fincher had no interest in seeing her.

After two and a half months, and man, many screentests Mara was called for one final test. The actress was practically fuming.

"I was like, 'You guys have to decide if I'm this girl or not, because I have to move on with my life at some point.' Of course, I didn’t say any of that. I was like, 'Fine, whatever!'"

When she was finally offered the lead, Mara was unfazed by the rape, nudity, piercings and cigarettes. According to EW's cover story, the one thing that shook the star was the motorcycle.

“The ­motorcycle was the thing I ­really didn’t want to do. You know, you’re ­going to be raped, be naked… But as soon as he was like, ‘You’re going to have to ride a motorcycle,’ I was like, ‘Oh, really?’”

Physically, she has made the transformation into the badass hacker without blinking.

"I didn't freak out at all. Because at that point, I'd already been sort of in the part, like researching it, for two months, so to me the hair was weighing me down. I wanted to get rid of it. They were going to wait longer. I was like: 'You just need to do it!'"

For more on "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," click over to EW.

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Comments

[M Scott Davis]

07:37 PM on 11/15/2011

I saw the original, Swedish.....it was really good. This one looks like it might do.

[Larry Mulvihill]

02:40 AM on 11/11/2011

wasn't this the third in a series ,why make it first

[M Scott Davis]

07:39 PM on 11/15/2011

I saw the series........Tatto, I believe was the first.

[sergal stew]

12:08 AM on 11/11/2011

S.J. is stolen biological material, taken against will and formed to clones line 200 pieces total. Original Scarlett Galabekian educated and licensed pediatrician doctor

[QueenOfViolets]

11:48 PM on 11/10/2011

What's really important about Lisbeth Salander is that she's on the autism spectrum. That's one reason why the books sold so well -- there's never been such a female heroine before in literature with such an obvious and beautifully described case of Asperger's.

These posters don't show a character on the spectrum. If Fincher gets that part of Salander wrong, and makes her like some tough girl who isn't on the spectrum at all, then he's going to be hated and he will have earned it.

[mxwllk]

09:59 PM on 11/10/2011

I hope she speaks more coherently in the movie.

[saami]

02:02 PM on 11/10/2011

Already been done by the Swedes and the films were excellent and absolultely nailed Lizbeth.

[youvebeenflagged]

01:50 PM on 11/10/2011

See the Swedish films. They are excellent.

[allamericanelaine]

01:15 PM on 11/10/2011

I can't imagine that this version of the story can even come close to being as satisfying and excellent as the original Swedish version.

[alguien]

01:20 PM on 11/10/2011

i felt the same way until i read the book and saw how much the swedish movie deviated from the literary source.

now i'm curious to see if the american version will either remain closer to the book or be a carbon copy of the swedish movie.

[jandos]

08:03 PM on 11/10/2011

Interesting. I loved all the books and have been meaning to see the Swedish version but haven't had the planets align where I was able to rent it AND had the energy to read subtitles. I'm surprised to hear that it deviated so much. I heard it was excellent, though.

[GracieGiraffe]

11:18 PM on 11/10/2011

Hmmm.... now I will have to pick up the books - thanks for the information.

[QueenOfViolets]

01:13 PM on 11/10/2011

Oh yuck -- another photo that completely destroys the Salander brand. I can't imagine the Salander in the book in a Daddy's little girl pose like this one. Lisbeth Salander is not Daddy's little girl. She's not clingy or even the least bit vulnerable. This is not a woman who clings to some man's back.

Fincher was the wrong man to make this movie. Fans of the books will be hating him for the rest of his life. I can tell just from the way Salander has been turned into some vulnerable little girl in the publicity photos.

He can't handle her strength so he's going to keep trying to cram her back in the girly girl box.

[allamericanelaine]

01:16 PM on 11/10/2011

Amen

[jandos]

08:07 PM on 11/10/2011

Interesting point, though I didn't read the photo that way. I think she looks powerful, her hands are strong, not girly and fawning. I think they look like equals.

Daniel Craig, as always, looks hot as hell.

[ACTINGDRAMA]

08:44 PM on 11/10/2011

Have you seen the poster? I mean he is cupping her tits. That is not salander.

[MikeDu]

11:25 AM on 11/10/2011

Tough girl revenge fantasy is turning into something of a movie genre. Anybody remember that live-action cartoon "Kill Bill"?

[FlaviaDeLuce]

01:41 PM on 11/10/2011

my favorite movieeeeeeeee.. so good

[inkongirl]

11:15 AM on 11/10/2011

Bummer. I thought Daniel Craig was going to be naked and pierced.

[Montcalms Revenge]

11:06 AM on 11/10/2011

"Naked, pierced, smoking cigarettes, riding a motorcycle"... hmmm... sounds like my mother-in-law.. (just joking!)

[jandos]

08:05 PM on 11/10/2011

Oh my!