57 Facts About Rooney Mara

Rooney Mara has received various accolades, including nominations for two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a British Academy Film Award.

Rooney Mara first gained recognition for her supporting role in David Fincher's drama film The Social Network.

Rooney Mara's career progressed with leading roles in the thriller Side Effects, the science fiction romance Her, and the romantic drama Carol.

Rooney Mara has since appeared in the biographical drama Lion, the supernatural drama A Ghost Story, and portrayed Mary Magdalene in the biblical drama Mary Magdalene.

Rooney Mara is known for her charity work and oversees the Uweza Foundation, which supports empowerment programs for children and families in the Kibera slum of Nairobi.

Rooney Mara is the founder of the vegan clothing line Hiraeth Collective.

Rooney Mara was born on April 17,1985, and raised in Bedford, New York, a town in Westchester County about 40 miles north of New York City.

Rooney Mara's father, Timothy Christopher Mara, is the senior vice president of player personnel for the New York Giants; and her mother, Kathleen McNulty, is a part-time real estate agent.

Rooney Mara is the third of four children: she has an older brother, Daniel; an older sister, Kate, who is an actress; and a younger brother, Conor.

Rooney Mara's father has Irish, German, and French-Canadian ancestry, and her mother is of Irish and Italian descent.

Rooney Mara attended George Washington University for a year before transferring to New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study, where she studied psychology, international social policy and nonprofits, graduating in 2010.

Rooney Mara was inspired to act by seeing musical theatre and classic movies, like Gone with the Wind, Rebecca, and Bringing Up Baby, with her mother.

Rooney Mara wanted to be like her sister, Kate Mara, a professional actress.

Rooney Mara acted in a few student films while at NYU, and then began her career in acting, first auditioning at the age of nineteen.

Rooney Mara first appeared as an extra in films which starred her sister, including a bit-part in the 2005 direct-to-video horror film Urban Legends: Bloody Mary.

Rooney Mara guest-starred on the legal drama Women's Murder Club and played a drug addict in an episode of The Cleaner.

Rooney Mara made her feature film debut Dream Boy and guest-starred as Megan for two episodes of NBC's ER.

In Miguel Arteta's comedy-drama film Youth in Revolt, Rooney Mara played Taggarty who tries to sleep with fifty men before she goes to college.

Rooney Mara had auditioned for the starring role, but was offered the smaller part when the lead went to Portia Doubleday.

Rooney Mara played Courtney in the 2009 independent film Dare and in The Winning Season as Wendy, a high school basketball player having an affair with a middle-aged shoe salesman with a similar story to The Bad News Bears.

Rooney Mara starred in a remake of the 1984 horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street, as the protagonist Nancy Holbrook, a high school student victimized by Freddy Krueger.

Rooney Mara began shooting the film in Chicago on May 5,2009, directed by Samuel Bayer.

Rooney Mara told Filmmaker that she felt that her Nancy was "completely different from the original" and "the loneliest girl in the world".

Rooney Mara had signed on to continue her role if a sequel was made.

Rooney Mara stated to Vogue that she disliked the experience of making the film so much, that it made her question if she wanted to be an actress.

Rooney Mara appeared at the Hamptons International Film Festival in October 2009 as part of its Breakthrough Performers Program, where she was tutored by Sharon Stone.

In 2010, Rooney Mara played Erica Albright, Mark Zuckerberg's ex-girlfriend, in David Fincher's biographical drama film The Social Network.

Rooney Mara played Lisbeth Salander, a brilliant but troubled computer hacker who helps journalist Mikael Blomkvist solve a series of murders.

Rooney Mara won the role over several other actresses after two and a half months of auditions and screen tests.

Rooney Mara convinced executives at Columbia Pictures to cast her for the part.

Rooney Mara did not consider the film to be a remake, but another interpretation of the novel.

Rooney Mara had her ears pierced four times, and had her brow and right nipple pierced for the role.

Rooney Mara kept the nipple piercing so that it would not need to be re-pierced for a sequel.

Rooney Mara's eyebrows were bleached, and she wore a temporary dragon tattoo.

Rooney Mara began preparing for the role by starting to skateboard and kickbox, and underwent dialect and computer training.

In 2011, Rooney Mara was considered to star in Kathryn Bigelow's action film Zero Dark Thirty, but the role went to Jessica Chastain.

In 2015, Rooney Mara starred opposite Cate Blanchett in Todd Haynes's highly acclaimed film adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's The Price of Salt, Carol.

Rooney Mara won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for her role in the film, shared with Emmanuelle Bercot.

Rooney Mara's performance garnered widespread critical acclaim and earned her nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a British Academy Film Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

In 2016, Rooney Mara voiced The Sisters in the stop motion animated film Kubo and the Two Strings.

Rooney Mara then starred alongside Ben Mendelsohn in Benedict Andrews' Una, which had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on September 2,2016.

Rooney Mara next starred in Lion alongside Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman, and The Secret Scripture, directed by Jim Sheridan.

In 2017, Rooney Mara appeared in The Discovery directed by Charlie McDowell and A Ghost Story, with Casey Affleck, directed by David Lowery.

Rooney Mara starred with Ryan Gosling, Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett and Val Kilmer in Terrence Malick's Song to Song, which had a limited release.

Rooney Mara appeared in Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot, directed by Gus Van Sant, opposite Joaquin Phoenix, Jonah Hill and Jack Black.

That same year, Rooney Mara starred opposite Phoenix again in Mary Magdalene, written by Helen Edmundson and directed by Garth Davis.

In 2022, Rooney Mara starred with Frances McDormand, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley and Ben Whishaw in Sarah Polley's feature adaptation of Miriam Toews' bestselling novel Women Talking.

Rooney Mara founded the charity Faces of Kibera, which aimed to provide housing, food, and medical care for orphans in Kibera, a slum in Nairobi, Kenya.

Rooney Mara visited the area as a volunteer in 2006 and was moved to help the orphans, many of whom lost parents to AIDS and HIV-related illnesses.

Rooney Mara began the charity due to her frustration with the growing number of nonprofits that are just business opportunities.

Rooney Mara later found it challenging to balance her charity work and acting career.

Rooney Mara serves as the president of the board of directors for the foundation.

Rooney Mara moved to Los Angeles in early 2007 and lived with her sister temporarily.

Rooney Mara felt that the experience brought them closer together, and as of 2010 they were regularly discussing the film business and movie scripts.

Rooney Mara includes Gena Rowlands among the actresses who inspire her, especially her performances in A Woman Under the Influence and Opening Night.

Rooney Mara gave birth to their first child, a son, in August 2020.

In September 2024, Joaquin Phoenix formalized his marriage with Rooney Mara during Talk Easy podcast.