Most film fans would agree that Rooney Mara is one of the best actors working today. Especially over the last decade, she has turned in some of the most fascinating performances in film. However, all of that quality work in recent years might not have ever happened after she had such a horrible experience making “A Nightmare on Elm Street.”
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While speaking on the LaunchLeft podcast (via IndieWire), Rooney Mara talked about a rough patch her in career after the ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ remake. While she doesn’t go into gory details, it’s clear she had a really bad time making that film, and it almost led to her leaving acting altogether.
“A few years before [‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’], I had done a ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ remake, which was not a good experience,” Mara explained. “I have to be careful with what I say and how I talk about it. It wasn’t the best experience making it and I kind of got to this place, that I still live in, that I don’t want to act unless I’m doing stuff that I feel like I have to do. So after making that film, I kind of decided, ‘OK, I’m just not going to act anymore unless it’s something that I feel that way about.’”
She mentioned working on “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and her collaborations with David Fincher. Apparently, the actress credits Fincher for reviving her love of acting, as well as igniting the belief that she only wanted to work on films that she felt were important to her.
But even the ‘Dragon Tattoo’ role wasn’t easy for Mara. After landing a small role in “The Social Network,” Fincher wasn’t all that interested in Mara for the lead in ‘Dragon Tattoo.’ However, the actress persisted and was able to eventually land the role. From there, she explained how closely she worked with the filmmaker to bring her Oscar-nominated performance to life.
“I worked on it for a year straight,” she said. “David really took me under his wing. He became my mentor in a lot of ways. He took such great care to make sure that I knew that I had a voice and that my opinion meant something. He constantly was empowering me, which I think really affected the rest of my choices thereafter.”
From there, Mara has been no stranger to earning acclaim for her acting work. She would eventually earn another Oscar nomination, this time for her work in the film “Carol.” Over the past couple of years, she also earned rave reviews for her performances in “Nightmare Alley” and in last year’s “Women Talking.”
You can hear the full discussion below:
