Rooney Mara is sick of saying sorry

Actress Rooney Mara. Photo / AFP

Rooney Mara has said she finds herself apologising for being a female actress with a strong voice.

Mara, who played the lead character in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, said people in the film industry get angry with her for being opinionated and having a strong point of view about how she should be portrayed.

Asked if actresses are treated differently to their male counterparts, she told the Sunday Times: "Oh my God, you have no idea.

"At the end of the day, I have one life, one name that is mine. So people get enraged - 'You have an opinion about what we want to use you for? And how we are going to portray you? How dare you!'

"It would be impossible for me to temper my voice. I am stubborn and opinionated, and I have a strong point of view. But, as a female, I definitely find myself apologising for it."

Mara, 30, said there are opportunities for actresses, and said complex female roles should have become normalised by now.

She said: "There are a lot of really interesting roles for women - definitely more than there ever have been. I think the thing to do is to stop talking about how there are not any.

"It should not be, like, 'Hey, this is great! These women are so complex!' Let's stop applauding that. It should just be normal at this point.

"Women are complex. In fact, I think, in a lot of ways, women are more complex than men."

Mara also spoke out against on-screen violence and said she was frustrated when she was advised not to agree to a poster for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo which showed her exposed nipple.

"My agents were, like, 'You can't agree to this, you will not be able to turn back from this, you will not recover'.

"I was, like, 'F*** that, I do not care, I am doing it.' It is OK to show someone's head blowing up, but you are offended by my tiny little boob?"

- PAA