AceShowbiz -

When Rooney Mara was announced as the actress to play Lisbeth Salander in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)", people was quick to compare her with Noomi Rapace who tackled the role in a 2009 version. When speaking to MTV News recently, the 26-year-old admitted in the beginning, she herself was unsure if she could play it better than the original actress.

In fact, Rooney has nothing but praises for the "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" actress. "I saw [the Danish movie] before I ever read the [Stieg Larsson] books. And I think she's incredible," the younger sister of actress Kate Mara gushed. "I left that movie thinking 'I can't do that, I don't even want to try doing that."

The New York-born star, however, had a change of heart after reading the novels. "And then whenever I read the books I had a different interpretation of the character," she explained. "And then I felt like I had to do it. I couldn't imagine my life without doing it."

Rooney further confessed that she didn't ask for Noomi's advice in portraying the heroine. Instead, she decided to interpret the character her own way. "You know, I think this is such an internal character and I think playing it is such an, it's sort of an internal experience," she said.

She went on to add, "Even though I felt so supported, it's really something you have to go through on your own. So I don't think we would have much to talk about 'cause it's sort of your own quiet experience."

"Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" has been released in the U.S. on December 20. It unravels the mystery surrounding the long-unsolved disappearance of an heiress as a journalist recently dinged by a libel case and a young female hacker team up to resolve it, stirring up bundles of personal and industrial corruption along the way.