Fans of Scandinavian murder, it’s time to update your Lisbeth Salander casting possibility wallcharts. Reports came in earlier in the week that Sony and director David Fincher had narrowed down their possibilities for the female lead in “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” down to five: “Sucker Punch” star Emily Browning, two relatively unknown Australian actresses in the shape of Sara Snook and Sophie Lowe, “The Social Network” star Rooney Mara (as reported first right here), and one unidentified French actress.
Now, it seems that Showbiz 411 have uncovered the missing piece in the puzzle, as they suggest that French thespian Lea Seydoux is that enigmatic fifth actress, and that she may well be a front-runner for the role. If you were one of the unlucky few that saw Ridley Scott’s “Robin Hood,” you’ll recognize Seydoux; she played Oscar Isaac’s mistress in the ill-fated epic, as well as appearing briefly in “Inglourious Basterds.” More importantly, she had a key role in Jessica Hausner’s excellent “Lourdes,” and comes from fine French cinema stock, her grandfather having been chairman of Pathé, and her uncle being CEO of Gaumont.
At this point, any actress under 25 with prominent cheekbones seems to be in contention for the part, so there’s certainly no guarantee that Seydoux has the role. Furthermore, the report seems to suggest that the actress hasn’t yet screen-tested, which gives some credence to what we were told; that the studio may go back to some of the bigger names (Carey Mulligan, Ellen Page, Mia Wasikowski, etc.) if the relative unknowns don’t work out, but we still expect one of Browning, Snook, Lowe, Mara or Seydoux to be named in the role in the near future.
At this point, any white actress under 25 with prominent cheekbones seems to be in contention for the part
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she's way too traditionally hot for the role…she was intensely hot in Robin Hood and it worked fine given the context. lisbeth has a lot of rough edges. this beauty is all smoothness and creaminess.
btw, robin hood is easily one of the best movies of the year.
They will go with the best-looking actress who isn't terrible. No other speculation required.
Hmmm, she'd be another good choice, I think she has the chops to play Lisbeth.
She was very good in Robin Hood and I actually feel quite lucky to have seen that movie, three times in fact. It's one of my favorites of the year and one of the best, in my opinion.
Love actionman to death, really, but LOL about Robin Hood comment.
Can Seydoux pull off a Swedish accent in English? Her French accent is pretty thick. That would be my concern, but she's gorgeous and can act.
Though all of her acting so far is incredibly demure. Exact opposite of Lisabeth.
They should get Melanie Laurent. I assume she speaks English, and she was great in Inglorious Basterds. So she's just as recognizable as the other non-stars mentioned recently, and has a recent crowd-pleaser movie to her name.
Inglourious Basterds made only a few million $$ more than Robin Hood, how is that considered a crowd pleaser and Robin Hood not. Moviegoing is purely subjective, I loved Robin Hood and disliked Inglourious Basterds.
I didn't mean that Robin Hood wasn't liked by audiences. I meant that Melanie Laurent was one of the stars in Basterds, whereas Seydoux had a small part. I think Laurent would be more recognizable being from Basterds than Seydoux from Robin Hood.
I do think it's fair to say Inglourious Basterds was at the top of discussion longer in 2009-10than Robin Hood will be in 2010-11.
I enjoyed both, but Basterds stands out a little more.
In this case, it's not about the bigger name, it's about who the director thinks is right for the part.
Fincher is definitely getting his way here and he's clearly after her not Laurent and he's already made it clear he's not looking for name actress (not that Laurent is a name either, but sure well more known than Seydoux, but that's relative).
I think I’m one of the few Americans who was able to catch “La Belle Personne” in a theater (or at all, it’s stil not on DVD in the US) thanks to IFC’s awful, awful handling of it, but Lea Seydoux stars in it and I love, love, love the film but I also think she’s really great in it. I think she could pull off this role, but I’d frankly prefer it be someone else if only because this would definitely keep her out of arty French movies for a long time and I prefer those.
Good movie and yeah, she's great in it (Personne).
can your average american tell the difference between a french accent and a swedish one?
i doubt it
as long as she sounds "european" im sure folks wont mind.
La Belle Personne is a pretentious tripe with subtitles.
But Seydoux is not half-bad in it. She wasn't too bad in Robin Hood either. It'll be interesting to see if she's actually cast as Lisbeth.