The 84th presentation of the Acadamy Awards, airing tonight on ABC, 8 PM Eastern Standard Time, has honored actress Rooney Mara with a nomination for Best Actress in a Lead Role for her portrayl of Lisbeth Salander, a Goth Punk computer hacker in the film Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. While this is her first Oscar nominaton, Mara is not unfamiliar with lead roles that are inclined toward the macabre. In the 2010 Nightmare on Elm Street remake, she starred as darkly artistic heroine Nancy. The only thing more sinister than the plot was Mara's ability to convey the tormented emotional and psychological breakdown of Nancy.
Lisbeth Salander, however, was a role much further from the social norm, tasking her ability as an actress and allowing her the opportunity to shine brilliantly. For the role, Mara had to transform herself into a quietly brilliant computer hacker whose atypical hair, various peircings, and unique tattoos separate her from the rest of society. Salander's emotional distress is conveyed through silence and behaviors, making her a deep character. Not only did Mara rise to the challenge in transforming Salander from paper, and a previous Norwegian version, to a film in an unique and media-consistent character of her own making, the piercings visible in the film were real and received to further enhance the realism of her portrayl.
It is not often that a mainstream film character can be both embraced by the goth community and honored nationally. Mara has already been contracted to reprise her role as Lisbeth Salander for the upcoming sequels Girl who Played with Fire and Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, both based on the novels by late author Stieg Larsson.
For more information regarding Rooney Mara, visit the International Movie Database at www.imdb.com or the official site for Girl with the Dragon Tattoo film, www.dragontattoo.com.
The DVD is scheduled for release on March 20, 2012.
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