Rooney Mara Almost Stopped Acting After Starring In THIS Classic Horror Flick

"A Nightmare on Elm Street" is undoubtedly a film to be scared of as it traumatized Rooney Mara in real life. The actress almost quit acting after playing Nancy Holbrook in the 2010 remake of the horror/mystery.

Mara explained that it wasn't "a good experience" for her, and this made her consider quitting her career. She wasn't the only one who felt weird about the film, as it also received very low ratings from critics.

While she continued acting, the experience taught her to be careful with accepting movie roles in the future. The star's love for acting returned after she worked with director David Fincher on "The Social Network" and again on "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." 

Keep reading to find out more.

The "Nightmare Alley" star, who rose to fame with highly-rated movie features in the past decade like "Her" and "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo," recalled once wanting to quit acting on the Launchleft podcast. She revealed that she felt uncomfortable on the "Elm Street" set and didn't like how the movie turned out.

She wasn't far from the public's opinion as the movie has a 14% Rotten Tomatoes rating and a 35% rating on Metacritic. The reception of the 2010 remake was entirely different from the original, which earned up to 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and 76% on Metacritic.

While the remake was one of her most popular roles, Mara revealed that she didn't enjoy working on the project.

The star explained that she has to be "careful" with "how she talks" about the film and also refused to give major details about what happened. However, she simply added that it "wasn't the best experience making it." The "Carol" star then noted an upside to the experience, which was that it taught her to be more careful with accepting future movie roles.

The 37-year-old, who starred alongside Jackie Earle Haley, Katie Cassidy, and Kyle Gallner, also noted that her dislike for the film helped her decide what roles she would like to play in the future.

She recalled deciding to reject roles unless she connected with them or "felt like she had to do them" in the future. While she made the decision after "Elm Street," the decade-long principle still follows her now.

She said, per Insider, "After making that film, I kind of decided, 'Okay, I'm just not going to act anymore unless it's something that I feel that way about.'" Following her decision, Mara starred in Fincher's "The Social Network" film, which she turned out to like very much.

Mara worked alongside famous stars like Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake in the film, which followed the origin of Facebook and also premiered in 2010. She revealed that she liked her time with Fincher and enjoyed working on the project in general.

She even agreed to work on another of the director's films, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." While she equally enjoyed being a part of it, it was more demanding than the "Social Network." The actress explained that she had to prove that she could ace the role during auditions.

However, Fincher was patient with her and "really took her under his wing." The director also made her feel more comfortable than she did in her former roles. She said, "He became my mentor in a lot of ways. He took such great care to make sure that I knew that I had a voice and that my opinion meant something."

Fincher was also very supportive of the star's choices. She recalled that he "constantly empowered" her, and this made her regain her spark for acting. The star went on to land roles in even more highly-rated films in the future.

Mara starred in the 2021 film "Nightmare Alley," alongside her "Carol" co-star, Cate Blanchett. She also delivered a groundbreaking performance in "Women Talking," which was released in December 2022.