Rooney Mara may be famous for playing Lisbeth Salander in the 2011 film adaptation of Stieg Larsson's novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but the previous year, she appeared in the 2010 remake of classic 1984 horror film A Nightmare On Elm Street. Mara recently made some interesting comments about her time making the remake, and it turns out that the actor thought about stopping acting altogether after shooting the movie.
The remake wasn't popular with critics or fans and has a 14% rating on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer and a 43% Audience Score. It definitely doesn't live up to the original and has little in common with it besides the main characters like final girl Nancy and famous villain Freddy Krueger. Why did starring in A Nightmare On Elm Street make Rooney Mara question whether she wanted to continue acting?
Who Did Rooney Mara Play In Nightmare On Elm Street?
Rooney Mara played Nancy Holbrook in the 2010 remake of A Nightmare On Elm Street. While the original Nancy Thompson is a great final girl, the same thing can't be said of Mara's version. Mara gives the best performance that she can given the dull script, and she does give her character the fear and emotion that makes sense given the terror that she's experiencing. The remake in general is flat and has the same bones as the original, with Freddy Krueger killing teenage characters as they sleep. But there is no artistry or smart storytelling here and it doesn't feel like there's a real reason for this new version to exist.
One of the worst horror movie remakes, the film features characters who are based on the original ones, with Katie Cassidy playing Nancy's best friend. In the original, Amanda Wyss played Tina Gray, and in the remake, the character is now named Kris Fowles. However, there is nothing scary about this version, and it will leave audiences wondering why they are watching. The movie follows the formula of the '80s film too much.
A major problem with the 2010 remake is Freddy Krueger. While he wears the same hat and green and red striped sweater as he always had, he has a face that sad rather than terrifying. Freddy's backstory is also changed. This time, he was a groundskeeper at the town of Springwood's preschool and molested children. Given Freddy Krueger's legacy in the horror genre, it's a shame to make any alterations at all. It's fair to say that the changes aren't necessarily for the better, as Freddy is eerie in the original and already has a backstory that makes sense and explains why he's targeting people via their nightmares. These slight changes don't do much.
Why Did Rooney Mara Almost Quit Acting?
Rooney Mara almost quit acting because of a bad experience making the 2010 A Nightmare On Elm Street movie. According to Indie Wire, Mara explained on the LaunchLeft podcast, “A few years before [‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’], I had done a ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ remake, which was not a good experience. I have to be careful with what I say and how I talk about it. It wasn’t the best experience making it and I kind of got to this place, that I still live in, that I don’t want to act unless I’m doing stuff that I feel like I have to do. So after making that film, I kind of decided, ‘OK, I’m just not going to act anymore unless it’s something that I feel that way about.'”
Mara explained that she appreciates David Fincher because he cast her in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, which was released in 2011, and she enjoyed making that movie much more. Mara also starred in Fincher's 2010 film The Social Network as Erica Albright, which was a smaller role but still memorable. Erica appears at the beginning of the movie as she and Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) are dating. Mara's talent is clear here as they talk about final clubs and because she attends Boston University and not Harvard, she isn't considered as smart as her date, and she feels terribly about that. It's a great scene and Erica is an interesting part of the movie, thanks to Mara's strong performance.
While Mara's role in A Nightmare On Elm Street doesn't compare to Heather Langenkamp's turn as Nancy Thompson in the 1984 original, her role in the comedy The Social Network proves her talent, and her performance as Lisbeth is excellent. Recently, Mara starred in Guillermo del Toro's 2021 film Nightmare Alley and 2022's Women Talking, and her career has definitely taken a more exciting turn than starring in the 2010 remake of A Nightmare On Elm Street.