Rooney Mara Chats With Vogue About The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Photos courtesy of Vogue/Mert Alas/Marcus Piggott

Rooney Mara covers the November issue of Vogue Magazine, and the star of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo chats about her dramatic transformation into Lisabeth Salander, how she handled the film's brutal rape scene and she even slams one of her first big roles.

When it came to completing her look, Mara reveals that she had ALL of the body piercings done on the same day. "I went in looking like Erica Albright and I came out like this ... The eyebrows were the biggest shock because that really changed my face, and I didn’t recognize myself.” And the body modification didn't stop there! Mara had to stay super thin for the role, and she noted, “One of the things that make our version that much more heartbreaking is that even though I am playing a 24-year-old, I look much younger. I look like a child.” When asked if she had to get unhealthily skinny for the role, she says, “Umm ... not really.” Director David Fincher (who accompanied her for parts of the interview) quickly added, “It hasn’t been too hard for her."

The writer for Vogue commented on the relationship between the young starlet and Fincher, describing it as one that is "charged with the electric current of the mentor-protegee crush, which is both touching and occasionally uncomfortable to watch." Daniel Craig (who plays Mikael Blomkvist in the film), says of the interaction between the two, “It’s f***ing weird!” Fincher auditioned everyone from Scarlett Johansson to unknown actresses from New Zealand, so it's interesting that he went with Mara, who worked with him on 2010's The Social Network.

When asked about the film's controversial rape scene, Mara admits it was a bit traumatizing. “I don’t know how to describe it. I think, physically, it was hardest," she says. "I got really beat up. But I gave myself a few days and then I was fine.”

Check out the gallery below for more photos, and click after the jump to read the rest of Ms. Mara's interview, including a quote where she talks smack about one of her first real jobs!