While the accolades have piled up and an Oscar nomination seems inevitable, there was a time when Rooney Mara, who nabbed a Best Actress prize in Cannes for her performance in Todd Haynes‘ "Carol," nearly turned down the role in the acclaimed romantic drama.
“I passed on ‘Carol,’ which when I think about it now is insane to me, because Cate [Blanchett] is one of my favorite actresses in the world,” the actress told The New York Times, noting that when the movie first came her way, she had just wrapped a lengthy and exhausting shoot on David Fincher‘s "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo." “Working with her is like a dream come true, so the fact that I passed up on that opportunity — I can only imagine the state of mind I must have been in.”
Luckily for everyone involved, she changed her mind, and the adaptation of Patricia Highsmith‘s tale about the relationship between a married woman and a department store clerk was realized, and it’s hard to imagine it starring anybody else.
"Carol" opens in limited release on November 20th. Below is a new clip from the film plus lots of fresh images.