Because I'm highly empathetic, it's easy for me to put myself in the character's shoes. It's, you know, finding the truth of the moment.
— Rooney Mara
As an actor, you can't just be in the film. You're also in charge of selling it, and so you have to sell yourself, and you have to be very political and make sure to not say the wrong things. It's exhausting.
I've done jobs where I thought, 'I don't want to be that kind of actor; I don't want to work on something with people who don't have the same kind of goal as I do.'
If the entire script feels formulaic, then you know that the film will be like that. But if it's a really interesting script, and the character happens to be formulaic, then maybe there's a way of making them more interesting.
I like being alone. I need a lot of alone time as a human. And especially on a movie set when you're around people all day long.
I'd like to flip houses.
I love to read. I'm still pen pals with my ninth-grade English teacher, Mr. Shanley. He tells me what books to read.
When I was at college, my nickname was Keds because I wore Keds. I guess it wasn't really a nickname, because nicknames are usually given to you by people who are your friends and who know you. But I didn't know the people who called me Keds. I think that they didn't like me because I didn't want to join a sorority.
It's really hard coming of age in today's society, where society wants you to make the decision of what you want to do with your life by the time you're 16 years old. Most kids don't know what they want to do. How could they? They haven't lived in the real world yet.
My sister started acting professionally when she was twelve, but I wanted to go to college first.
Just because the character listens to an iPod and wears black nail polish, she's goth. That was just a misused word.
I am one of 40 grandchildren. What bothers me about the whole trust-fund thing is that it sort of presumes that everything is handed to you. And if there is one thing about my family that I do identify with, it is that everyone is extremely hardworking.
There's a certain way people are used to seeing nude women, and that's in a submissive, coy pose, not looking at the camera. And in this poster, I'm looking dead into the camera with no expression on my face. I think it freaks a lot of people out.
The more people know about you, the less they can project who you are supposed to be. It's unfortunate that you really only get one shot at that.
One of the things that make our version that much more heartbreaking is that even though I am playing a 24-year-old I look much younger. I look like a child.
I've always been a very sensitive person, and people tell me that if I'm in a certain mood, and I go into a room, my mood will permeate the room. It's not on purpose - I'd rather be invisible in those moments - but I'm really bad at faking how I feel.
How do we get to equality? I don't think it comes from fear. I think it comes from understanding.
It's really helpful when you do something you don't like. You won't make that mistake again. It's like dating a bunch of people who are wrong for you - you learn so much more about yourself that way.
I'm probably more insane than most people and less than a lot of others. I'm somewhere in the middle.
On 'Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,' I spent two or three months learning how to ride a motorcycle. I wasn't really riding the motorcycle in 98 percent of the movie, but the shots of me getting on and off had to look like I had been doing it for years and years.
I don't find myself intriguing.
I try to eat food that hasn't been washed in ammonia and then packaged in the shape of breaded dinosaurs filled with cheese - even though those are very tasty. I like to eat food that can actually make it through the 20-plus feet of my small intestine.
Marion Cotillard is one of my favorite actresses.
I grew up in a little cul-de-sac in the suburbs and went to public school. I went to Costco on the weekends.
What bothers me about the whole trust-fund thing is that it sort of presumes that everything is handed to you. And if there is one thing about my family that I do identify with, it is that everyone is extremely hardworking.
I looked on YouTube for sleep deprivation and there were videos of people experimenting with staying awake for a while. You saw all the different stages.
I am very slow to warm. I've always been sort of a loner. I didn't play team sports. I am better one-on-one than in big groups.
Now I literally roll out of bed and put on whatever is there. I have really enjoyed being a boy this last year.
I've been trying to really live in the moment because I will never get this part of it back. As soon as the movie comes out, everyone will turn it into what they believe it is, so I've really been trying to appreciate every minute of now. Because I know what's coming.
I'm not at all funny. I can do dark comedy pretty well, but straight-up comedy, I don't know. I'm much darker. I've been like that since I was 3 years old.
People think that I grew up going to Barneys for my back-to-school clothes. I went to the Gap. We lived in a nice house on a cul-de-sac, but it wasn't a mansion. We didn't have a butler or a maid.
In order to have understanding, you need forgiveness, compassion, and empathy.
I never do anything for the camera. It's my job to pretend the camera's not there. I'm never moving for the camera.
I pick up energy really easily. Even if I go to the grocery store, and no one is paying attention to me, I can pick up other people's moods, and it's really intense.
I guess I don't really measure myself by what others think. So even though I have gotten to work with some amazing directors, and you might perceive me to be that girl, that isn't how I see myself. So if one day nobody wants to work with me, it won't be this massive surprise.
I feel like I've been guarded since I was about three years old. I don't know why. I come from such a huge family, so maybe it's that. Maybe it comes from going to Christmas and having 30 people all in your face at once. I've always been a bit like, 'Aaargh!'
When I do a film, I follow the director.
Daniel Day-Lewis - he's a man, obviously, but I really admire his work.
I didn't even have pierced ears. They put four holes in each ear, and, weirdly, that hurt the most.
It never seemed that honorable to me, and I guess I was always afraid that I might fail.
As a 12-year-old, I think everything seems scary.
If there is one thing about my family that I do identify with, it is that everyone is extremely hardworking. Also, the people whom I grew up with all did things they really loved. And I think that's an important lesson.
I always wanted to be an actor, but I was always fighting it. It never seemed that honorable to me, and I guess I was always afraid that I might fail.
I can understand wanting to be invisible and mistrusting people and wanting to understand everything before you engage with the world.
There were certainly things I was scared to do, but I never thought I wasn't up for the challenge.
