The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is perhaps one of the most authentic book-to-film adaptations, and it's definitely one of David Fincher's best movies. Casting and screenplay aside, there were several other factors Fincher and his team had to be vigilant about, specifically when it comes to editing, locations and soundtrack.
One of Fincher's biggest concerns was trimming the socio-cultural intricacies without taking away the subject's originality. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was meant for a global audience and many aspects from the Swedish thriller would not have been relevant for a worldwide audience, so Steven Zaillian's screenplay had to balance several things at once. There are several other workings and methodical elements that went into the making of the film that fans may not know about.
George Clooney And Brad Pitt Were Considered For The Role Of Mikael
The film's producer, Scott Rudin, revealed in an Entertainment Weekly story that it was hugely important to him that the role of crusading journalist Mikael Blomkvist was cast appropriately. The producer believed the relationship between Mikael and Lisbeth is what would anchor the film's story.
Brad Pitt and George Clooney were seriously considered but Rudin insisted that the key to casting the film isn't big names but the right chemistry. Craig was ultimately finalized, although it did take the actor some time to clear his schedule since he was also busy wrapping up filming for Skyfall and Cowboys & Aliens.
Fincher Was Worried About The Screenplay
There are some marked differences between the American and Swedish versions of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Fincher's version was designed as the international version, which would mean a lot of socio-political intricacies needed to be trimmed from the original text to prepare the screenplay.
"The ballistic, ripping-yarn thriller aspect of it is kind of a red herring in a weird way," Fincher said in a Hollywood Reporter interview. But he revealed that Steven Zaillian, who prepared the screenplay, agreed with him that the film should ultimately be about a guy and a girl, which became key to editing the material to fit the film.
Rooney Mara's Personality Helped With Her Casting
Fincher revealed that the fact that Mara was sort of a "fringe dweller" and went against the tide worked in her favor since Lisbeth herself is an out-and-out rebel. Fincher admitted that though he wasn't entirely sure Mara was the right choice, her indomitable spirit is what made him finalize her as Lisbeth.
"She chopped her hair off, she learned to ride a motorcycle, she went to Sweden on her own and disappeared off the grid. And if you have someone willing to do all that, that‟s everything. Piercings are piercings, but anyone could pull that part off," Fincher said in a Surrey Live interview.
Christopher Plummer's Theatre And Radio Background Helped Him For The Film
Henrik Vagner wasn't just a truth-seeker, he was also suffering from a big loss. Plummer, who played Vagner, revealed in an interview with MSN Entertainment that his experience in theatre and radio helped him find his footing with a character, especially to carry the narrative.
"I grew up in radio when radio was number one, and it was marvelous. In fact, Toronto radio was some of the best in the world in those days, so I grew up there, doing about twenty different voices. All that stuff has prepared me to do and take care of the narrative in movies," Plummer said.
Daniel Craig Thought Rooney Was Perfectly Cast
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is definitely Craig's most noteworthy non-007 movie and the James Bond actor was quite involved with the behind-the-scene developments and casting. In an interview with Page Six, Craig revealed that he thought Mara was "physically perfect" for the role and Fincher was adamant about casting Mara.
"When she puts the hoodie on and the leather jacket, she looks like a 14-year-old boy, she looks sexless. Which is perfect. The other side of it is that when she doesn’t have that on, she’s really sexy. That combination is absolutely true to the book," Craig said.
Rooney Mara Got Real Piercings For Her Role
Lisbeth was heavily pierced and tattooed and Mara went for real piercings since she wanted a sense of authenticity to her look. She also revealed in an interview with Allure that she had no piercings when she was cast but had to get four piercings in each ear for her role, along with a few others.
"I thought, She has it in the book, and she should have it [in the movie]. Because of all the tattoos and the makeup and the piercings and the physical transformations my body has to go through, it would always feel sort of like I was in costume, even if I was naked. It just felt like a good one to get — a necessary one to get," she said.
Nine Inch Nails Frontman Trent Reznor Composed The Score
Even the most ardent Nine Inch Nails fans may not know that the frontman of the rock band actually composed the score for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, along with Atticus Ross. Reznor and Ross had also scored the music for Fincher's The Social Network. The soundtrack for TGWDG is almost three hours long and Reznor and Ross spent more than a year working on it and blending its acoustic and electronic elements.
"For the last fourteen months, Atticus and I have been hard at work on David Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. We laughed, we cried, we lost our minds and in the process made some of the most beautiful and disturbing music of our careers," Reznor wrote on his official website.
Craig Was Against A Toned Down Version
Craig revealed that the film's rating was on his mind from the get-go. He revealed in an interview with The Sun that the movie deals with difficult subjects and is definitely not meant for family viewing, and there would be no point in stripping the subject of its grittiness.
"This movie deals with forbidden or difficult subject matters. It deals with violence towards women, it touches upon Nazism and all the suppression of Nazism in a country where maybe there hasn't been a lot of discussions. And it's those subject matters that interest me," he said.
Mara Learned Skateboarding For Her Role
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo may have some continuity errors, but attention to detail was key to Fincher's approach. In a behind-the-scenes interview, Fincher revealed he wanted Mara to get skateboarding lessons to alter her sense of gravity.
In an interview with Variety, Mara herself also talked about the training she had to pursue her role. "I went into training. I did skateboarding to sort of get the teenage boy walk and a lot of kickboxing. I started the dialect training right away and did some computer training," she revealed.
Pat McGrath Explored 200 Versions Of Smoky Eye For Mara
Celebrity make up artist Pat McGrath was responsible for creating Mara's power-punk look for the role of Lisbeth. McGrath revealed in an interview with Huffington Post that Mara's bone structure made her realize she could take her goth look in many directions, and she eventually came up with 200 versions of the smoky eye look.
"We came up with about 200 different versions of this reddish smoky eye with many different dimensions. The trick was to take black and brown eye colors and add a tiny drop of red -- that created a look that was vulnerable but hard and strong," the artist shared.