Transformation

Rooney Mara is a woman who isn't afraid to make changes. To play Lisbeth Salander in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, she lopped off her honeyed waves and assumed the character's severe blunt fringe and bleached brows. It's not the first time the 27-year-old has made a major cut: her legal first name is Patricia, but, as she told People "I never felt like a Tricia—Rooney is more memorable." Certainly, we're unlikely to forget her (or her black bob) anytime soon.

The aspiring actress starred in a production of Romeo and Juliet at Fox Lane High School in Bedford, New York. Mara has admitted that her flowing curls were clip-in extensions used to disguise a bad haircut.