Turns out that one of my New Year's resolutions for 2012 is the same as one of my resolutions for 2010 — to wit, posting in this space on a somewhat regular basis. Inevitably, that means cutting to the chase and not hobbling myself with overlong intros, especially when I'm pressed for time. So in that spirit, and without much in the way of further ado, I present my interview with The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo's Lisbeth Salander, aka Rooney Mara. My editor commented that Mara, who's apparently already acquired a reputation as a difficult interview, had "warmed" to me, which isn't exactly how I would have put it. A mild thaw, perhaps. At the age of 26, and promoting her first role of any real note, Mara talks like a well-vetted starlet, which is to say her answers tend to be as noncomittal and unrevealing as possible. Luckily, I had enough time with her to find a few cracks in her albaster façade, producing what's almost certainly the first reference to a haunted hayride in my journalistic career.
