Rooney Mara: ‘Being in Ireland for gay marriage vote was great’By Buzz Contributor - March 24, 2017
Enjoying the fireside glow in the cosy Woodstock Arms pub in Inistioge, Co Kilkenny, Rooney Mara eavesdropped on a heated debate.
Weeks before the Marriage Referendum, a small group was passionately defending equal rights for same sex couples against those who had reservations.
Rooney (31) was fascinated by the outcome.
“One guy was talking about his concerns for the traditional family unit, whatever that is, and the others very calmly and logically pointed out the errors in his judgment.
“By the end of it, he was coming around. And I thought that was magical. In this tiny pub in the middle of Ireland, something monumental was happening right there.”
While shooting Jim Sheridan’s screen adaptation of Sebastian Barry’s The Secret Scripture in the picturesque Kilkenny village, as well as locations around Dublin and Wicklow, the Irish American star was on the ground for much of the Referendum campaign.
Overjoyed by the results, she also wasn’t the slightest bit surprised.
“The country seemed full of love and pride at being the first to have a popular vote. You could tell it was going to happen, it was so amazing. It was the most amazing example for the whole planet.”
There’s a bare crinkling round those starling pale eyes and a flash of dewy dimple as the double Oscar nominee wistfully grins. Something I’ve never encountered before in previous meetings, where Rooney showed little emotion.
Rising to prominence with powerful, breakout roles in The Social Network and The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo, the slender star has also become somewhat synonymous for a surly, spitting disdain for fame.
Her interviews are normally punctuated by uncommunicative mumbles and brusque replies.
Today is different.
In a cream silk shirt and matching pencil skirt, with her slate dark hair slicked in to a tight bun, the star of awards bait like Carol and Lion, is positively beaming.
As Rooney herself claims, working on The Secret Scripture brought the best out in her.
“Working in Ireland where’d I’d never been before and feeling immediately connected, like I was home.
“And working with Jim Sheridan was wild and fun and I don’t think he made a film since the Boxer there, it felt so special to me. And special for my family. Both sides are super Irish.”
Rooney — who secured Oscar nominations for Carol in 2016 and Girl With The Dragon Tattoo in 2012 — joins a star-studded cast including Eric Bana and Vanessa Redgrave.
The actress takes centre stage as Rose, an enigmatic figure of lust for a devout Sligo village during the height of World War II.
She ultimately finds herself juggling the attentions of Tom Vaughan Lawlor’s obsessed detective, Aidan Turner’s affable shopkeeper and Jack Reynor’s smooth RAF pilot.
And desire soon turns to danger.
Off-screen, Rooney appreciated the advantages of surrounding herself with a veritable who’s who of electrifying Celtic hunks. “I noticed a few people on set getting a little wide-eyed around them on set. Which is completely understandable.”
The first run of BBC’s Poldark debuted towards the end of the two-month shoot and Rooney watched Aidan Turner become a sexualised pin-up overnight.
“We didn’t work too much together but I was there at the start. Everyone’s gaze suddenly turned on him and it became this huge thing.
“It’s pretty easy to see why; jaws drop when Aidan walks by.”
Thought to be in a relationship with her director boyfriend of six years, Charlie McDowell — although recent rumours hint at a new romance with Mary Magdalene co-star Joaquin Phoenix while they shot the biblical epic in Italy last year — Rooney’s other love of her life is older sister Kate, a fellow A-lister thanks to roles in The Martian and House of Cards.
Enjoying a super wealthy upbringing in upstate New York as the daughters of combined American Football League dynasties [their mother’s family owned the Pittsburgh Steelers, their father’s the New York Giants], Rooney followed Kate to Hollywood where they shared the screen in horror straight to DVD dud, Urban Legends: Bloody Mary.
Since then, the pair have maintained individual paths.
Has there ever been rivalry?
“We’ve never been competitive, even as kids,” she insists.
“There was natural stuff like, ‘I want that shirt,’ fighting over stupid stuff.
“I know it would make a great story if there was, but it isn’t. Especially as you’re constantly compared to other actresses, this whole business is about rivalry. You’re competing with people for jobs and most of the time, you lose.”
It’s an educational encounter with the rising star, warm and convivial in the flesh. At least for today.
I want to make light of my perceived misconception but fear the destructive aftermath.
So I ask, what does Rooney believe is the biggest misconception about her?
She pauses and stares blankly for a moment.
“That I’m sometimes ungrateful for what I have. And that I grew up with a silver spoon shoved up my ass because of my family and how wealthy they must be. And that’s so far removed from who I am as a person.”
I respond by explaining American football has little following on this side of the pond and few people know about her affluent background.
Rooney grins widely. It’s a dimpled frenzy. “Well that’s cool…”
