Rooney Mara gets inked in edgy photo shoot for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

With her unevenly chopped black hair, bleached eyebrows and multiple piercings, actress Rooney Mara looks a far cry from the fresh faced girl who starred in hit film The Social Network.

The February issue of W magazine sees the actress appear in the guise of Lisbeth Salander, her character in the forthcoming film adaptation of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

The 25-year-old poses on a bike in dark eye make up, a white vest top and leather trousers as a tattoo artists draws on her hip.

Transformation: Rooney Mara poses for a tattoo in her guise of Lisbeth Salander during a photoshoot for W magazine

Transformation: Rooney Mara poses for a tattoo on her hip in her guise of Lisbeth Salander during a photoshoot for W magazine

The actress told the magazine that she had to undergo a considerable transformation for the role.

In one 'intense' day,  Rooney had her hair dyed and cut, her eyebrows bleached, her lip, brow, nose, and nipple pierced, along with her ears pierced several times. 

'I didn’t even have pierced ears,' Mara says in the accompanying interview. 'They put four holes in each ear, and, weirdly, that hurt the most.

'It was all very organised. With [director] David [Fincher] everything is measured and carefully considered. He wants what he sees in his head.'

The cover photograph shows further results of the transformation, with Rooney posing with blood covered hands and a open leather jacket revealing the words "Salander" tattooed on her chest.

Rooney also had to learn how to ride a motorbike and kick box for the role which saw her move to Stockholm five days after landing the part.

Punk style: The actress poses on the magazine's cover with her hands covered in blood, in a leather jacket and tattoo reading 'Salander'

Punk style: The actress poses on the magazine's cover with her hands covered in blood, in a leather jacket and tattoo reading 'Salander' 

She beat several actresses to the role after auditioning in Los Angeles.

'They shot me in the subway in L.A. In full hair and make-up with a motorcycle,' says Rooney.

'Everyday they had a new request.  On a Monday morning, David called me in, and I said, "What do you want me to do with my hair now?" I was at the end of my rope.  He told me I had the part.  I hadn’t even read the script yet.'

Despite her privileged background - Rooney is the offspring of two American football dynasties—the Rooneys (who own the Pittsburgh Steelers) and the Maras (owners of the New York Giants) - the director had faith that she was best for the role of the androgynous outsider.

'I wanted her from the beginning,' Fincher tells the magazine. 'Rooney may be a trust-fund baby from football royalty, but she’s level headed and hard working.

'It’s so odd how who people are comes out in auditions. We didn’t make it easy for Rooney, and there was no way to dissuade her.'

Transformed: Rooney debuted her new look last night at the Palm Springs Film festival with the cast of The Social Network, in contrast to her more familiar fresh faced look
Transformed: Rooney debuted her new look last night at the Palm Springs Film festival with the cast of The Social Network, in contrast to her more familiar fresh faced look

Transformed: Rooney debuted her new look last night at the Palm Springs Film festival with the cast of The Social Network, in contrast to her more familiar fresh faced look

'Before I read the book, I didn’t think I could do it,' says Rooney. 'I locked myself in a room for a week, read all three books, and decided I really wanted to be Lisbeth. But I thought I had no shot at it.'

Dragon Tattoo is the first in the best selling trio of books, known as 'The Milennium Trilogy' by the late author Stieg Larsson.

They have already been adapted into Swedish language films which starred Noomi Rapace as Salander.

The new version, which has been slated to be released this December, stars Daniel Craig as investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist, Robin Wright as magazine editor Erika Berger and Christopher Plummer as businessman Henrik Vanger.

The February issue of W magazine hits stands on January 25. For more visit www.wmagazine.com


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