The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

The “Millennium” series is based on three voluminous books, whose interest, both nationally and internationally, has been almost unprecedented. The myth around the writer and the books are both tragic and mesmerizing. The author Stieg Larsson, investigating journalist himself at the magazine Expo, wrote three books of 600 pages each before handing it in to the publishing company Norstedts. Tragically and unexpectedly though, Stieg Larsson passed away before the first book was ever published. His manuscripts of three completed, but unpublished, novels – written as a series – were discovered only after his death. He had written them for his own pleasure after returning home from his job in the evening, and had made no attempt to get them published until shortly before his death. The first was published in Sweden in 2005 as “Män som hatar kvinnor”, which was titled for the English-language market as “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”, and published in the United Kingdom in February 2008. His second novel, “Flickan som lekte med elden” (The Girl Who Played with Fire), received was published in the United Kingdom in January 2009, while the third novel, “Luftslottet som sprängdes” (The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest), was published in the United Kingdom in October 2009, and the United States in May 2010.

Yellow Bird obtained the rights to the highly praised books and our intention is to make 6×90 min crime series for TV, based on the three books, but due to the unexpected international anticipation, the televsion series was shortened to three feature films. The role of Lisbeth Salander quickly became one of the most sought-after role for any Swedish actress to land. Noomi Rapace, who previously worked with producer Søren Stærmose on the 2003 film “Capricciosa” and who made an impression with her radical performance in “Daisy Diamond”, was surprised when she got a call to audition for the role of Lisbeth, described in the books as tiny, tough, and boyish. She had loved the novels, but physically, she just didn’t fit. “I’m pretty feminine,” says the actress, who had been doing TV and film work in Sweden. “I didn’t look like her at all. But I knew that I had her inside of me. I felt that I could understand her.” Rapace has always been drawn to darker material, films that go places that other actors might not want to explore. “I’m almost obsessed with the human psyche,” she says. “I want to understand what’s going on inside us. What makes us do things under extreme circumstances? Why do some people commit horrible crimes, and why are some people good? What’s the difference? Where does it start? I’ve always been very interested in the complicated sides of humanity.”

I wanted her to be complicated, but extreme. She had to be a character you’ve never seen before, yet still allow the audience to connect with her. So it was a balance between how much I should let her emotions out, and how much I should keep in. I had many arguments about that with Niels, who would sometimes tell me that he wanted to see more of what was going on inside of Lisbeth. And I said, “No, I can’t do that.” Lisbeth’s learned how to control her face and body so she can hide her feelings, and she wouldn’t be reacting the way Niels wanted me to in those cases. (Noomi Rapace)

Rapace, realising that Lisbeth was the role of a lifetime, went back to Oplev to counter his objections. “I said, if you trust me, I’ll do anything you want me to do to become her. And he finally agreed”. In that time, Larsson’s own story has become one of the most intriguing in publishing history: he was an obscure 50-year-old author, who had never previously written fiction, who suddenly produced a trilogy of thrillers. But before they could reach bookstores, he died of a heart attack in 2004 and became a posthumous literary sensation. Larsson’s life and death is a story in itself, and one of its side effects has been a breakthrough performance for Noomi Rapace. “I think Stieg Larsson was pretty brave. He wanted to bring up things that we don’t like to talk about, or like to ignore. In Sweden everybody has this perfect surface. Everyone’s very polite and controls their feelings”. When the first film opened in Sweden the producers hadn’t taken into account what a phenomenon the Larsson thrillers had become worldwide, and they were surprised by the interest from foreign press. “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” won Best Film of the Year at the Guldbagge Awards, a BAFTA Award as Best Film not in the English Language a Broadcast Film Critics Association Award in the same category. Noomi Rapace was as well nominated for a BAFTA Award in the Best Actress category – she won the Guldbagge Award, an Empire Award and received nominations as Best Actress for the European Film Award, the Critics Choice Award and the London Critics Circle Film Award.

★    Alliance of Women Film Journalists – Best Female Action Star
★    Empire Award – Best Actress
★    Guldbagge Award – Best Actress
★    Hollywood Film Award – Spotlight Award
★    Jupiter Award – Best International Actress
★    Monte-Carlo TV Festival – Outstanding Actress in a Mini-Series
★    New York Film Critics Online – Breakthrough Performance
★    Satellite Award – Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Drama)
★    Alliance of Women Film Journalists – Best Breakthrough Performance
★    Alliance of Women Film Journalists – Women’s Image Award
★    BAFTA Film Award – Best Leading Actress
★    Central Ohio Film Critics Association – Breakthrough Film Artist
★    Critics Choice Award – Best Actress
★    European Film Award – European Actress
★    Houston Film Critics Society Award – Best Actress
★    International Emmy Award – Best Performance by an Actress
★    Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award – Best Actress
★    London Critics Circle Film Award – Actress of the Year
★    St. Louis Film Critics Association – Best Actress
★    Saturn Award – Best Actress