‘Tattoo’ star Rooney Mara laughs off ‘bush’ wig

The film, based on the first in the Millennium trilogy of crime thrillers by Swedish author Stieg Larsson, includes a number of nude scenes featuring Mara, who has naturally dark hair.

Speaking with the Metro newspaper in New York, however, she explained that the nude scenes required filmmakers to engage in in-depth discussions about how to ensure that Mara’s portrayal of Salander was as accurate as possible.

“There was a lot of discussion that went into my merkin for the movie, because I was naked quite a lot,” she told the newspaper, using a term which describes a pubic wig originally worn by prostitutes after shaving their genitalia but which are increasingly common in films.

“And I don’t think a lot of people will notice all of the attention that went into that.”

Rooney went on to explain that the small but significant detail prompted a round of discussions because of the incongruity between Salander’s hair colour and that of the US actress set to portray her in the upcoming film.

“Well, you know, in the book she’s meant to have strawberry-blonde hair originally and she dyes it, so we had a special merkin made that was, you know, strawberry-blonde so that it would fit,” she told Metro, closing with a laugh.

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”, which co-starts Daniel Craig and is directed by David Fincher, is set for release in Sweden and the United States on December 20th.