Rooney Mara Reveals She Chooses Projects Based on Directors After ‘Bad Experiences’
Apr
Speaking at the press conference for her new film “La Cocina” during the Berlin Film Festival, Rooney Mara disclosed that she selects her projects primarily based on the director, citing past negative experiences.
“I really go by the director. I learned that pretty early,” Mara explained when asked about her process for selecting films. “I had some bad experiences as an actor. And then I think it was probably after the first time I worked with David Fincher that I was like, ‘Oh, follow the director.’ So I really make my choices based on the filmmaker and who I want to work with because at the end of the day, it’s all them.”
In “La Cocina,” directed and written by Alonso Ruizpalacios, Mara stars alongside actors Raúl Briones Carmona and Anna Diaz, with Ramiro Ruiz serving as producer. Mara expressed her desire to work with Ruizpalacios, stating that she had been eager to collaborate with him for some time.
“He wrote me this beautiful letter, and I read the script and watched all of his work and I really just wanted to make anything with him,” Mara shared. “The way he talked about how he wanted to make this film, it was just an experience I really wanted to have.”
Ruizpalacios, meanwhile, had been admiring Mara’s work since seeing her in “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” over a dozen years ago. A memorable incident involving a cherry coke machine at the cinema where they watched the film served as inspiration for a scene in “La Cocina.”
“As we went to buy some popcorn, I felt when I was reaching the concessions that the floor was really wet. Then I came close and realized there was a Cherry Coke machine, and it was spilling like an endless fountain,” Ruizpalacios recounted. “And the people who were selling, they didn’t give a shit. I was like, ‘There’s Cherry Coke all over the floor!’ They’re like, ‘Yeah, I know.’ And that to me was a perfect image of fucked up capitalism, you know? Just a fountain of Cherry Coke. And the film we went to see that night was ‘The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.’ And I said to my wife that night, ‘Fuck, I want to work with her one day.'”
“La Cocina” premiered at the Berlin Film Festival on Friday night.
