“Hate, hate, hate”: The role Rooney Mara regrets taking on
Quickly rising to become one of the greatest actors of the 21st century, American screen icon Rooney Mara first stepped foot on the silver screen back at the dawn of the new millennium. Taking bit-parts in minor TV series, including ER and Law & Order, it wouldn’t be until 2009 that the actor would take a major step up, appearing in five movies of varying quality, with the Michael Cera-led comedy Youth in Revolt being the most prominent.
Youth in Revolt is certainly not, however, the movie that Mara is known for, being instead a mere stepping stone that would catapult her to global fame. While 2009 was a crucial formative year, it would barely compare to 2010, a period when Mara took the lead role in the Nightmare on Elm Street reboot and appeared opposite Jesse Eisenberg in the ‘Best Picture’ nominee The Social Network, one of the 21st century’s most seminal films.
In the following year, Mara claimed the role in David Fincher’s reimagining of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, with the actor playing the role of Lisbeth Salander, an emotionally and physically challenging character that would illustrate her later commitment to taking on complex lead roles. Such was demonstrated in the following years when she played Catherine Klausen in Spike Jonze’s Her and Therese Belivet in Todd Haynes’ Carol.
Yet, her early rise to fame wasn’t entirely plain-sailing, with the actor hitting a significant stumbling block when she appeared in another reboot in the form of Joe Wright’s Pan, a reimagining of the story of Peter Pan, initially written by James Matthew Barrie in 1911. Inspired by Disney’s 1953 film, this new live-action movie sought to stay loyal to Barrie’s classic while subverting small details.
An origin story that detailed how the titular boy got to Neverland in the first place, Pan sees Mara play the role of Tiger Lily, a character who, in the original story, is an indigenous American. Understandably, this whitewashing of the original shocked many audiences and critics, with the majority of people bemoaning the fact that yet another film had succumbed to the pitfalls of Hollywood ignorance.
“There were two different periods; right after I was initially cast, and the reaction to that, and then the reaction again when the film came out,” Mara told The Telegraph when reflecting on the role.
Continuing, she added: “I really hate, hate, hate that I am on that side of the whitewashing conversation. I really do. I don’t ever want to be on that side of it again. I can understand why people were upset and frustrated…Do I think all of the four main people in the film should have been white with blonde hair and blue eyes? No. I think there should have been some diversity somewhere”.
Thankfully for Mara, Pan was an entirely forgettable and largely awful adaptation which time forgot, well, aside from that tragic rendition of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ that no doubt saw Kurt Cobain spin in his grave.
