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This week Sky announced that it will be remaking Stieg Larsson’s 2005 novel The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo as an eight-part television series. So far, all we know is that it will be set in the present day and will be written by Steve Lightfoot and Angela LaManna.
What we don’t know is who will play Lisbeth Salander, the aforementioned girl with the dragon tattoo. And this will be a big deal, because previous screen adaptations of Larsson’s books have made stars of whoever was cast as Salander. In 2009’s Swedish adaptation, she was played by Noomi Rapace, who was nominated for a Bafta. In David Fincher’s 2011 remake, she was played by Rooney Mara, who was nominated for an Oscar. And in 2018’s The Girl in the Spider’s Web adaptation, she was played by Claire Foy, who wasn’t nominated for a Bafta or an Oscar, but was still very good.
Sky’s series is going into production this spring, so it is almost certain that it has cast its Salander. But let’s not allow that to stop us indulging in a little mindless casting speculation. Here’s who should play her.
Emma Corrin
Far and away the best pick for the role, Corrin shares a strange, otherworldly intensity with Salander. They are magnetic and unpredictable, and have a clear talent for challenging characters. They are also very obviously unafraid of playing characters so well known that they run the risk of lapsing into caricature; anyone who dares to play Diana, Princess of Wales will make mincemeat of Salander. Plus – and it’s a big plus – Sky’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is going to be made by Left Bank Pictures, which also made The Crown. Look at it from a certain angle and you could almost convince yourself that it made The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo only because it had a relationship with Corrin.
Jodie Comer
This is mainly because Comer is excellent in everything, so it stands to reason that she would be excellent in this. She plays troubled very well (see 28 Years Later). She plays capable very well (see Help) and she is not a bad sociopath, either (see Killing Eve). The last also shows that she knows her way around an accent which, since the series is filming in Lithuania, might also be useful. If you want a familiar face who can disappear into a role, she would be the one to pick.
Anya Taylor-Joy
Although she has largely left television for film, Taylor-Joy’s biggest star-making vehicle to date is still the Netflix miniseries The Queen’s Gambit. She is at her best when she is given time to fully interrogate a role, rather than skate along the surface of a movie as a pretty supporting character, and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo would allow her to do exactly that. Also, she would be terrifying, which works in her favour.
Alba August
We shouldn’t forget that The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is a Swedish book, and therefore it might be better if the series cast someone more geographically authentic. If that’s the case, August, a Danish-Swedish actor, might be a good shout. She has been good in everything she has done – she was fantastic in Netflix’s post-apocalyptic series The Rain – and it feels as if she has been waiting a long time for an English-language breakthrough. This would certainly be that.
Noomi Rapace
Or how about this? Sky’s announcement made mention of the fact that The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo would be set in the present, so perhaps its gimmick is that all the characters are 20 years older than they were when the book was published. If that’s the case, then recasting Rapace in her breakout role would be a no-brainer. Rapace is now 46. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see what Lisbeth would be like in middle age? Has she softened over time, or has she become angrier than ever? The new series probably isn’t going down this route at all, but it would be a fascinating experiment.
To the person who has already been cast as Salander, if they are reading this and getting progressively angrier that I haven’t named them as the obvious choice for the role, sorry. You are obviously going to be much better than any of the people I have listed. It’s my fault. I’m just not very imaginative. Unless Corrin has been cast, in which case I told you so.
