Rooney Mara is transformed from Mark Zuckerberg's cute girlfriend in The Social Network into the tough, tattooed Lisbeth Salander in the lastest issue of W magazine.
It is the first glimpse we've had of the actress' remarkable makeover to play Stieg Larsson's heroine in the Hollywood version of his novel The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
With close, cropped, dark hair and blood-drenched fingertips, Rooney's look is signature Salander, complete with piercings and tattoos.
And inside she talks about how she transformed herself for the role and the gruelling audition process.
She chopped off and dyed her hair, pierced her lip, brow, nose and nipple and bleached her eyebrows for the part.
"I didn't even have pierced ears," she said.
"They put four holes in each ear, and, weirdly, that hurt the most."
David Fincher, who also directed Mara in The Social Network, tested her limits during the audition process, including having her act out the chilling rape scene in the book.
"David added the rape scene at the last minute, and I said, 'Oh my God, they must be really serious'. They did one test, then another a week later," she said.
"They shot me in the subway in LA in full hair and makeup and with a motorcycle. Every day they had a new request. David called me in and I said, 'What do you want me to do 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."
Fincher said he wanted Mara from the start, but wasn't going to make it easy for her.
"Rooney may be a trust-fund baby from football royalty, but she's levelheaded and hardworking. It's so odd how who people are comes out in auditions," he said.
"We didn't make it easy for Rooney, and there was no way to dissuade her."
All the hard work looks to have paid off - Mara looks incredible as Salander.
Photo: W magazine
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