2005–2009: Early work Mara first appeared as an
extra in films which starred her sister, including a
bit-part in the 2005
direct-to-video horror film
Urban Legends: Bloody Mary. She found work in television, making her professional debut in a 2006 episode of the drama
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, as a girl who bullies overweight children. She guest-starred on the legal drama ''
Women's Murder Club and played a drug addict in an episode of The Cleaner. Mara made her feature film debut Dream Boy'' (2008) and guest-starred as Megan for two episodes of
NBC's
ER. In a
coming-of-age film
Tanner Hall (2009), Mara landed her first lead role, as Fernanda who has an affair with a married family friend (
Tom Everett Scott). The film was the directorial debut of
Tatiana von Fürstenberg and
Francesca Gregorini, it debuted at the
2009 Toronto International Film Festival and had a limited theatrical release in September 2011. Mara dropped her first name, Patricia, to be known professionally by her middle name after working on the project. "I never really liked my first name," Mara stated to
Paper magazine. "I never felt like a Tricia. And Rooney is more memorable". Her father and younger brother also go by their middle names. In
Miguel Arteta's comedy-drama film
Youth in Revolt, Mara played Taggarty who tries to sleep with fifty men before she goes to college. The film was based on
C.D. Payne's 1993 cult novel of the
same name. Mara had auditioned for the starring role, but was offered the smaller part when the lead went to
Portia Doubleday. Mara played Courtney in the 2009 independent film
Dare and in
The Winning Season as Wendy, a high school basketball player having an affair with a middle-aged shoe salesman (Kevin Breznahan) with a similar story to
The Bad News Bears. Both films were premiered at the
2009 Sundance Film Festival and Mara was included on
Filmmaker magazine's list of "25 New Faces of Independent Film" that year. Mara starred in a
remake of the 1984 horror film
A Nightmare on Elm Street, as the protagonist
Nancy Holbrook, a high school student victimized by
Freddy Krueger (
Jackie Earle Haley). Mara began shooting the film in Chicago on May 5, 2009, directed by
Samuel Bayer. Mara told
Filmmaker that she felt that her Nancy was "completely different from the original" and "the loneliest girl in the world". She stated to
Vogue that she disliked the experience of making the film so much, that it made her question if she wanted to be an actress.
2010–2016: Breakthrough and critical acclaim '' in 2012 In 2010, Mara played Erica Albright,
Mark Zuckerberg's ex-girlfriend, in
David Fincher's biographical drama film
The Social Network. The same year, Mara was cast as the lead in a film adaptation of
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the first of the
Millennium book trilogy by
Stieg Larsson. She played
Lisbeth Salander, a brilliant but troubled computer hacker who helps journalist
Mikael Blomkvist (
Daniel Craig) solve a series of murders. Mara won the role over several other actresses after two and a half months of auditions and
screen tests. Fincher initially did not picture Mara as the character, but changed his mind after she auditioned. He convinced executives at
Columbia Pictures to cast her for the part. Fincher's
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo began shooting in Sweden in September 2010. Mara did not consider the film to be a remake, but another interpretation of the novel. "I plan on giving my interpretation of the character," she stated to
Variety. Mara's long brown hair was cut short and dyed black, in a style reminiscent of 1970s
punk and 1980s
goth fashions. She also had her ears pierced four times, and had her brow and right nipple
pierced for the role. Her nose and lip piercings were fake. She kept the nipple piercing so that it would not need to be re-pierced for a sequel. Mara's eyebrows were bleached, and she wore a temporary dragon tattoo. She began preparing for the role by starting to skateboard and kickbox, and underwent dialect and computer training. She also visited
Stockholm, the setting of the novel. The film was released on December 20, 2011. Mara received universal critical acclaim and was nominated for the
Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for her performance. On January 24, 2012, she received her first nomination for the
Academy Award for Best Actress. In 2011, Mara was considered to star in
Kathryn Bigelow's
action film Zero Dark Thirty, but the role went to
Jessica Chastain. The following year, Mara signed on to replace
Carey Mulligan, who had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts, in
Spike Jonze's
Her (2013), where she played Catherine Klausen, the ex-wife of central character Theodore Twombley (
Joaquin Phoenix). In addition, Mara starred in
Steven Soderbergh's psychological thriller
Side Effects (2013), replacing
Blake Lively. The film also starred
Jude Law,
Channing Tatum,
Catherine Zeta-Jones and
Vinessa Shaw. She played Emily Taylor, "a woman who turns to prescription medication as a way of handling her anxiety concerning her husband's upcoming release from prison." She also starred in
David Lowery's romantic crime drama ''
Ain't Them Bodies Saints'' (2013), which was described as a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde story, alongside
Casey Affleck and
Ben Foster. In May 2013, she became the face of what was then a new Calvin Klein fragrance, Down Town. '' with director
Todd Haynes and
Cate Blanchett at the
2015 Cannes Film Festival Mara's sole release of 2014 was the
crime drama thriller film Trash, an adaptation of the 2010 novel of the same name by
Andy Mulligan directed by
Stephen Daldry. The same year, Mara served as the
costume designer on her then-boyfriend
Charlie McDowell's feature directorial debut
The One I Love. She was credited as Bree Daniel. In 2015, Mara starred opposite
Cate Blanchett in
Todd Haynes's highly acclaimed film adaptation of
Patricia Highsmith's
The Price of Salt,
Carol. The film premiered at the
2015 Cannes Film Festival, where it received a ten-minute standing ovation. She won the
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for her role in the film, shared with
Emmanuelle Bercot. Her performance garnered widespread critical acclaim and earned her nominations for an
Academy Award, a
Golden Globe Award, a
British Academy Film Award and a
Screen Actors Guild Award. The same year, Mara played
Tiger Lily in the
Joe Wright-directed fantasy film
Pan, a role for which she received a great deal of criticism; she and Wright faced accusations of "
whitewashing" a
Native American character. To express their concerns, Native American activists created a hashtag #NotYourTigerlily to protest Mara's casting and thousands of Native Americans participated in a "Twitterstorm" to share memes addressing their concerns about the portrayal of Native women in film. Mara would later voice regret over her role in the film. In 2016, Mara voiced The Sisters in the
stop motion animated film
Kubo and the Two Strings. She then starred alongside
Ben Mendelsohn in
Benedict Andrews'
Una, which had its world premiere at the
Telluride Film Festival on September 2, 2016. Mara next starred in
Lion alongside
Dev Patel and
Nicole Kidman, and
The Secret Scripture, directed by
Jim Sheridan. The former was well-received by critics, with praise for the acting, emotion, visuals and cinematography. It received six
Oscar nominations at the
89th Academy Awards, including
Best Picture and
Best Adapted Screenplay.
2017–present: Hiatus and further film career In 2017, Mara appeared in
The Discovery, directed by
Charlie McDowell, and
A Ghost Story, with
Casey Affleck, directed by
David Lowery. Both had their world premieres at the 2017
Sundance Film Festival. Mara starred with
Ryan Gosling,
Natalie Portman,
Cate Blanchett and
Val Kilmer in
Terrence Malick's
Song to Song, which had a
limited release. Mara appeared in ''
Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot, directed by Gus Van Sant, opposite Joaquin Phoenix, Jonah Hill and Jack Black. The film had its world premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. and was later released by Amazon Studios. That same year, Mara starred opposite Phoenix again in Mary Magdalene'', written by
Helen Edmundson and directed by
Garth Davis. This same year, she also collaborated with
Joaquin Phoenix,
Sia,
Sadie Sink and
Kat von D to narrate Chris Delforce's animal rights documentary
Dominion. For her contribution to the documentary, she was granted the 2018 Award of Excellence for Narration by Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards. Following a brief hiatus, Mara co-starred in the
neo-noir psychological thriller Nightmare Alley (2021), an adaptation of the
1946 novel of the same name directed by
Guillermo del Toro. The film received critical acclaim and was included in the Top 10 Films of the year by the
American Film Institute Awards, but fared badly at the box office. It received four nominations at the
94th Academy Awards, including
Best Picture. In 2022, Mara starred with
Frances McDormand,
Claire Foy,
Jessie Buckley and
Ben Whishaw in
Sarah Polley's
feature adaptation of
Miriam Toews’ bestselling novel
Women Talking. In 2024, she starred in
La cocina, an adaptation of
Arnold Wesker's 1975 play
The Kitchen directed by
Alonso Ruizpalacios. She will also star in the upcoming film
Bucking Fastard, directed by
Werner Herzog, alongside her sister
Kate Mara. Mara is a signatory of the
Film Workers for Palestine boycott pledge that was published in September 2025. ==Other work==