Blazing her own trail

I’M INTERESTED in the duality of people, says Rooney Mara, of her predilection for caliginous characters.

“I have a lot of darkness and frenetic energy inside myself, so it’s easier for me to portray people with shades of grey.”

After two and a half months of gruelling auditions, which included simulating the film’s lurid rape sequence, Mara beat out the likes of Scarlett Johansson and Jennifer Lawrence for the role of Lisbeth Salander — an icy bisexual hacker in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. A Best Actress Oscar nomination soon followed, catapulting her to the rarefied air of Hollywood’s most wanted.