Actress Rooney Mara went through a dramatic makeover, which included dying her hair jet black and chopping it off plus getting pierced and tattooed, to become Lisbeth Salander, the lead role on David Fincher’s upcoming movie titled “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”, an adaptation of the bestselling novel by Stieg Larsson.

The first images of Rooney as the Lisbeth are included in the upcoming issue of W Magazine (February 2011)- photos below. Lisbeth is a genius computer hacker tormented by difficult childhood who joins journalist Mikael Blomkvist, played by Daniel Craig, in his quest to investigate several murders.

The 25 year-old actress apparently wanted so much to play the role that she pierced her nipples and lip to convince the director she was the right woman for the job. Mara told W Magazine, “I locked myself in a room for a week and read all three books, and decided I really wanted to be Lisbeth, but I thought I had no shot at it….They shot me in the subway in L.A. in full hair and makeup with a motorcycle. Every day they had a new request. On a Monday morning, David called me in, and I said, ‘What do you want me to do to my hair now? I was at the end of my rope. He told me I had the part. I hadn’t even read the script yet.”

Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander For W Magazine Pictures

[images: W Magazine]