(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Rooney Mara says she was destined to play obscure movie characters as she has “always been dark”.

The 25-year-old upcoming actress was recently announced as the lead female in David Fincher’s latest project The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Rooney’s character Lisbeth involves herself in some fairly gruesome scenes as she fights crimes alongside Daniel Craig’s character Mikael Blomkvist in the movie, and Rooney says she isn’t fazed by sinister characters.

The actress admits that when it came to dressing up to celebrate Halloween, she often chose unconventional characters.

“I’ve always been dark. I’ve been like that since I was three. For Halloween, my mom asked me what I wanted to be. I said, ‘Klara, the crippled girl in Heidi’,” she told Empire magazine.

Rooney beat established Hollywood stars such as Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman to play violent computer hacker Lisbeth Salander in the movie.

The actress is thought to have won the part as she impressed director David when making soon-to-be-released movie The Social Network with him.

The actress plays Erica in the movie about the creation of the website Facebook, and says she found working with David a rewarding experience.

She says the director pushes his actors to the limit, but it is worth it for the excellent results.

“The first day we did an eight-page scene. I think we did it 99 times. I was like, ‘God, I’m gonna burn out, it’ll feel robotic.’ But every single time it felt fresh. David knew exactly what he wanted,” she added. (C) Cover Media