Rooney Mara cast as Lisbeth Salander in "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"

The question of who would play Lisbeth Salander — the punky hacker from Stieg Larsson's Millenium trilogy — was one of the most debated casting calls of the year. Lots of big names were thrown around, like Natalie Portman, Carey Mulligan, and Emma Watson (in fact, some said that Watson's new, super-short haircut was done in part to get the role), but director David Fincher had basically stated outright that he was looking to cast someone relatively unknown.

Well, it looks like he's made good on that promise, because it was just announced that twenty-five-year-old actress Rooney Mara has just scored the coveted role. Mara — who I was getting confused with her slightly more famous sister, Kate Mara — hasn't been in much: the usual gigs on television dramas like Law & Order and ER are on her resume, but it seems like her biggest role was Nancy in the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street. She is, however, going to be in The Social Network, so between that and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, I fully expect to see her in a lot of "Young/New/Hot Hollywood" spreads.

I can't speak to Mara's acting ability, but here she is in the trailer for A Nightmare on Elm Street, in which you can see her burn herself with a cigarette lighter:

So congratulations, Rooney: you just scored yourself a primo three-movie contract.

Via Huffington post.