Noomi Rapace's 'Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' Emotional Goodbye

In a few weeks, the American adaptation of "The Girl WIth The Dragon Tattoo" will hit theaters to deafening anticipation. Rooney Mara, with her angled haircut, pale face, pierced everything and tattoos galore, will embody Lisbeth Salander for the entire western hemisphere. To those in the story's original home of Sweden, however, there is another face that comes to mind when Salander's name is evoked.

Noomi Rapace, the 31-year old Swedish actress, is the original Lisbeth Salander. She first brought the dynamic character from late author Stieg Larsson's "Millenium" series to life on the big screen, with the first of three film adaptations coming in 2009. The pictures were shot in rapid succession, with critical acclaim and box office success following each release. When it was all over, leaving the role was a physically sickening proposition.

"My whole body was just kind of throwing Lisbeth out of me," she told Black Book Magazine, remembering back to when, following the last film's wrap, she vomited behind the scenes.

The next few weeks were quite difficult for her.

"I was like, I don't know who I am anymore!" she remembered. "It's almost like you're coming out of a... It's like you've loaned yourself to someone else."

It's a similar sentiment to that which she expressed in a recent interview with Collider.

"When I stepped into Lisbeth [Salander], and when she grew in me, I was prepping for seven months, I changed my body a lot and I was training a lot, and I took the license for a motorcycle, and I did all those piercings and cut my hair," she told the website. "She slowly came to me, when I was prepping, and then, we were filming for one year, so she occupied me for one and a half years. And then, when I came out of that bubble, I was like, "Oh, my god, people are going to hate me. They're going to hate what I did."

It does not, however, seem as if the public is feeling any sort of hatred toward Rapace. In fact, she'll beat the new "Dragon Tattoo" to theaters this month, as she stars in the upcoming "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" and Ridley Scott's "Prometheus."

For more, click over to Black Book Magazine.

Comments

[Liason Finally]

11:25 AM on 01/23/2012

It seems everyone is jumping up & own about the new movie of this novel however the original Swedish version w/Swedish actors is quite excellent.

[jondavwal]

11:43 AM on 12/13/2011

I completely disagree about Rapace "being" Lisbeth Salander. If you read the books she was completely wrong, too pretty, too soft, too Emma Peel in leather. She appeared to be completely unscarred by her past. The story change also seemed to be gratuitous without any reason. I hope they return to the way Harriet escaped in the book. Mara looks and sounds EXACTLY the way Lisbeth Salander is depicted in the first book and the location shots look like they did a way more faithful adaptation. I enjoyed the Swedish movies but they veered way too far from the books, which were much more complex. Also, since they hired Robin Wright Penn to play Berger, hopefully she will actually have a part in this film. She might as well have been a lamp in the Swedish version.

[ennui the third]

03:00 PM on 12/11/2011

Boo-hoo....she makes millions and now she is going to make more!....I am heartbroken....I would go on, but I am too emotionnal at this time.....

[Taratrick]

12:49 AM on 12/11/2011

yeah, couldn't they have spliced Noomi's scenes into Fincher's project ... they were that good!

[HaroldHowe]

04:06 PM on 12/09/2011

Misleading thread title as usual. She was quite gracious towards both Fincher and Rooney Mara and is looking forward seeing the film.

[DaniFoxy]

09:27 AM on 12/09/2011

I know a girl with a dragon tattoo... What's the big deal?

[ennui the third]

06:54 AM on 12/09/2011

oh give me a break....it's a movie that was made by actors getting paid millions, seen by people who should think about their own lives and not the day to day garbage of celebratoids...

[themightyabealrd]

04:38 AM on 12/09/2011

I have had mixed experiences with American remakes of foreign films. I found the original 'Girl with...'
pictures superb and may not bother seeing the English language version. The remake of 'Let the right one in' was nowhere near as creepy or subtle as the Swedish movie. But the American 'Death at a funeral'-in the same language, no less-was every bit as funny as the English one.

[FCBarca]

02:59 AM on 12/09/2011

There is only one Lisbeth - Noomi

[AfroGoddess]

10:18 PM on 12/08/2011

Honestly, as much as I love Daniel Craig, I can't picture him being sexual with the new Lisbeth Salander. She just looks too young.

[HaroldHowe]

04:10 PM on 12/09/2011

That's not what he thinks or said.

''There were shenanigans going on while she was being cast," Daniel told Time Out London.

''David Fincher was adamant [about Rooney] and I get that. Just look at the beginning of The Social Network, she's phenomenal. She's got something about her, but also she's physically perfect.''

Daniel was impressed with Rooney’s versatility. She embodied every facet of her character.

''When she puts the hoodie on and the leather jacket, she looks like a 14-year-old boy, she looks sexless. Which is perfect. The other side of it is that when she doesn't have that on, she's really sexy. That combination is absolutely true to the book,'' he said.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/6118576/Rooney-Mara-perfect-Girl-With-Dragon-Tattoo

[AfroGoddess]

11:51 PM on 12/11/2011

So basically, "She will need to take her clothes off to show her breasts so that the audience knows that Daniel Craig's character isn't a pedophile."

[AfroGoddess]

02:14 PM on 12/20/2011

You have a problem with comprehension. Read my first comments again. I didn't write that Daniel Craig's character is a pedophile. I made the comment that the new Lisbeth Salander looks too young for this role. I also said that in order for his character to not look like he's into, as you quoted, a 14-year-old boy that she'll need to take her clothes off.

What in those statements is confusing for you, or you just easily confused? You seem like the type who is too busy forming an argument to actually listen or read.

[Fregla]

09:33 PM on 12/08/2011

She is amazing the those films. Watch them if you can. They are on Netflix Streaming. I have to say I am not really looking forward to the American version. We have a habit of ruining perfectly wonderful foreign films. For what reason, because we can't read subtitles?

[catzilrein]

06:34 PM on 12/08/2011

I would like to see the original before this new one is released later this month. Read the books and I must say and excellent trilogy. It's too bad Larsson died prematurely young. I think he's a great writer.

[SionShankel]

07:56 PM on 12/08/2011

Do it...she is amazing!

[AntonBursch]

08:28 PM on 12/08/2011

it's on netflix streaming. 7 bucks. doesn't get any easier than that.

[catzilrein]

08:47 PM on 12/08/2011

Thanks for the info, I'll check it out!!

[Nancype]

03:49 PM on 12/08/2011

She was excellent. A tough actress to replace

[Cyn de Harven]

03:24 PM on 12/08/2011

Well to most of us smart enough to watch the original version before the new one comes out, hers is also the face that we will think of when it comes to Lisbeth Salander.

[NHBill]

04:20 PM on 12/08/2011

While she was World Class just about everyone else was Swedish TV Mini-Series quality.
There's plenty of room for improvement in the hands of one of the world's great directors David Fincher.

[Cyn de Harven]

04:23 PM on 12/08/2011

Sure, I love Fincher.

I did love the atmosphere of the foreign version though. Almost as though the 'foreignness' of it made it even more spooky.

I wait to see this with bated breath, but I'm not assuming it's going to be better just because it's Fincher.

[ReformedRepublican]

12:12 PM on 12/11/2011

Early reports are that he softened parts of the interaction with the Lisbeth character to avoid the potential of an NC-17 here in the US. I saw the original three movies and, frankly, I agree that the supporting acting could be improved greatly. The cinematography has room for improvement as well. The male lead, was good but not memorable. But, the part of Lisbeth is and will always be Noomi's. I am quite sure that Rooney will do a good job. It is really almost unfair to her to be compared to the original, but when someone owns a part so clearly as Noomi did, it is the way things are. Imagine, if you will, the next chapter of Batman and having someone else play the Joker. Or, imagine someone other than George C Scott as Patton. Some roles and some actors just define the subject. That, to me, is the case with the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.