- LA Times: You got pierced in a number of places to play the part. Did going through that painful process teach you anything about Lisbeth?
- Rooney Mara: Not really. The piercings were one afternoon. It hurts for a second, and then it’s over. It didn’t really faze me. I did a lot of kickboxing and, early on, I would make a face that I was in pain. My trainer would say, “Now do it to me, and try and hurt me.” I would try and try and try, and he wouldn’t show anything, and it was so frustrating. He was like, “You’ve never really experienced pain. If you’re someone who is used to that, you don’t show it, because if you show someone that you’re in pain, it gives them a sense of pleasure.”
- As I was working with him more and more, he’d be like, “Does this hurt? Am I working you hard enough? Because I can’t tell anymore.” I’ve kept that, not on purpose. I went on a haunted hayride over Halloween, and people would come up and scare me, and I wouldn’t even flinch. My sister and my friends would be, like, “What is wrong with you?” When you’re used to people being abusive, you find a way to turn it off. It’s not like Lisbeth was born not asking for help.