Difficult moments in someone’s career can make them rethink how they are navigating their industry. Rooney Mara had to learn a lesson after “some bad experiences” that have made her pickier about the movies she stars in as it is all about the director. That decision has since led her to work with filmmakers like Guillermo del Toro, David Lowery, David Fincher, and now Alonso Ruizpalacios.
Rooney Mara Opens Up About ‘Bad Experiences’ on Movies and Why She Chooses Work Based on the Director
While at the Berlin Film Festival to promote her latest film, La Cocina, Rooney Mara spoke about the movies that changed her decision process (via Variety). While she did not specify when she figured this out, she said she “learned pretty early” on in her career. After starring in The Social Network, directed by Fincher, she realized, “Oh, follow the director.”
While she has never outright called out anyone in the industry, the star had previously made an example of one film that was “not a good experience.” Nightmare on Elm Street was the project that nearly broke her until she worked on The Social Network to rejuvenate her career.
That positive experience with the three-time Oscar-nominated director led her to star as the co-lead in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo the next year. From there, she has had roles in films directed by del Toro (Nightmare Alley) and Spike Jonze (Her).
La Cocina follows the kitchen staff of a New York restaurant that descends into chaos. Coming off movies like Nightmare Alley and Women Talking, she chose this as she had her eyes on the director, who also wrote the film, for a while. He convinced her when he wrote her a “beautiful letter.” From there, she “read the script and watched all of his work.”
The feeling was mutual. The filmmaker saw The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and quickly realized he wanted to work with the star. While watching the American adaptation of the best-selling novel, he looked to his wife to tell her, “F—, I want to work with her one day.”
