Rooney Mara – Making a case for Oscar

The Oscar for Leading Actress rarely goes to a true character piece; exceptions would include Charlize Theron as Aileen Wuornos in Monster. An actress usually has to climb the ladder, demonstrating a conventional ability before even winning recognition for a more risky part. The 84th Academy Award nominees for Leading Actress include the remarkable performance from Rooney Mara in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The difference this year being Rooney Mara is still a fresh face to most. Who is this newcomer nominated for Best Actress in this atypical part?

Rooney Mara has been no stranger to the comfortable life that, supposedly, comes with fame & fortune. Born into not one, but two houses of the NFL family – the New York Giants and the Pittsburg Steelers – Mara could have easily taken a career in acting without needing to start from the bottom; with her grandfather and father still embedded in the Giants franchise, one could assume she would have the resources and connections to jump straight into movies – especially with her sister, Kate Mara, being a professional actress. Rooney was inspired to act from a young age, like her sister, but resisted the desire, telling The Journal News, “it never seemed that honorable to me.”

If honorable is what Rooney Mara was after, she certainly endeavored to earn her stars. After high school Mara ventured with the Traveling School (education of other countries by temporarily living in their cultures) to South America to visit places like Peru and Ecuador. Returning stateside, she began to take extra parts on movie sets while initiating her college courses at George Washington University (later transferring). Sometime in 2006, Rooney was in Kenya for volunteer work, and became genuinely concerned with the living conditions in the suburb of Kibera. The experience prompted her to launch her own charity: Faces of Kibera, aimed at providing medical care, food and shelter to the orphans there. Pooling the Mara family inheritance, Faces of Kibera auctioned off NY Giants and Pittsburg Steelers memorabilia at one of their fundraisers. Rooney graduated from the Gallatin School for Individualized Study (a New York University) in 2010, having studied psychology, nonprofits, and international social policy. It was also the year Mara attempted a noticeable film role.

Taking on the iconic Nancy role in the 2010 reboot of A Nightmare on Elm Street might not have been an ideal introduction of Rooney Mara to theatrical audiences. Samuel Bayer’s diluted and deplorable vision of this horror classic bled through every aspect of the film, including the cast’s performances. Rooney Mara finished her inaugural role being perceived “untalented.” She quickly won back some credibility the same year, with a small part in The Social Network. Playing a missed connection of founder Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg), working with renowned director David Fincher proved more suited towards Mara’s surfacing talent. With that small but valuable performance, Fincher eventually offered Mara the coveted Lisbeth Salander part in the highly anticipated domestication of Sweden’s international best-seller, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Rooney Mara dove headfirst into the character, chopping her hair and opting to forego cosmetics, piercing her ears, eyebrow, lip, nose and nipples for the part. Dedication to semblance aside, Rooney portrayed the inner anguish and wrath of the character Lisbeth exceptionally well and very believable. Her efforts paid off with a much-deserved Oscar nomination and notoriety. In addition to the offer of reprising the Lisbeth role, Rooney has been cast for several bigger productions slated for 2013.

Regardless of who does win the Oscar on Sunday, Rooney Mara is clearly just getting started in the film industry.

Gari Hart has been a film fanatic since a young age.  Movie watching has taken up more than 70% of his life.

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on Feb 26, 2012 @ 10:00 EST5EDT