10 Actors Who Put Insane Effort Into Details Nobody Noticed

One of the best things about being an actor is that you don't have to do much modification to yourself to make a role work. Tattoos and piercings can all be added via the impressive skills of the makeup and costume departments, but that doesn't mean some actors don't go the extra mile for a role.

For The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Rooney Mara could have easily sat in a chair and let the people responsible for making her look like Lisbeth Salander without being too invasive, but that wasn't going to cut it for the actress.

To prepare for her role, she went ahead and pierced her body in the same way the character had them — 12 piercings in her face and nipples. These could have easily been added and made to look real, but she went through with it even though nobody watching the movie could have told whether the piercings were real or not.

She also bleached her eyebrows, cut off most of her hair, dropped some weight, and learned to skateboard, ride a motorcycle, and kick butt thanks to some martial arts training. She also wandered the streets of Stockholm by herself to mirror her character's isolation.