SALON

Tuesday, Aug 17, 2010 9:05 PM UTC

U.S. version of “Dragon Tattoo” casts Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander

Relative unknown will portray Stieg Larsson's punk hacker opposite Daniel Craig and Robin Wright

By

Topics: Stieg Larsson,

U.S. version of Rooney Mara in a still from "Nightmare on Elm Street."

Lisbeth Salander is one of the most vividly drawn characters to emerge from fiction over the last decade, as the pivotal figure in author Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy. Beginning with “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” and ending with the recent U.S. release of “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest,” the diminutive bisexual punk hacker with the extremely tortured past is deeply embedded in the minds of the people who have read the books. And Sweden has already produced the trilogy on film, to great acclaim and success.

The U.S. likes to do things its own way, though, and director David Fincher has been attached to the American interpretations of Larsson’s books. Daniel Craig has signed on to the lead role, with Robin Wright as his colleague and lover, Erika Berger. But the search for Lisbeth has been fraught with difficulty — big-name actresses such as Natalie Portman, Ellen Page and Scarlett Johansson were reportedly desperate for the part, but fans were unsettled by the rumors and the search continued.

Fincher and the producers pulled the trigger yesterday — casting an actress named Rooney Mara as Salander. Mara has a limited résumé, primarily consisting of TV guest spots and the recent “Nightmare on Elm Street” remake, but is sure to gain some recognition for her role in the upcoming Facebook-origin-story “The Social Network.” Entertainment Weekly’s film critic takes a look at her casting, and the Los Angeles Times goes in depth by looking at Mara’s past work. E!Online has five things you need to know about the actress, and the New York Daily News says Johansson’s breasts and hips lost her the role. As for the supporting cast, Screen Rant has a breakdown of the veteran actors who are in talks to join the party.

More Christine Mathias.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 1 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations