From Her Majesty To Hacker Claire's Unique Appeal

How She’s Casting Aside Her Crown But Keeping Her Head

- Judy Kean

We’re used to her as the poised, regal and lady-like Queen in a tiara and pearls in the first two series of The Crown.

So it comes as something of a shock to see British actress Claire Foy as the tough Lisbeth Salander – wearing head-to-toe black leather and sporting body piercings and tattoos – in the latest film about author Stieg Larsson’s iconic character, The Girl in the Spider’s Web.

Vigilante Lisbeth couldn’t be further from Elizabeth II, but that’s one of the reasons why the role appealed. However, despite being a fan of the Millenium Trilogy books and the previous Swedish and American film versions, starring Noomi Rapace and Rooney Mara as Lisbeth, Claire did take some convincing to say yes to the job offer.

“Initially I was like, ‘No, I don’t want anything to do with it,’” reveals Claire (34).

“I’d seen the work of Noomi and Rooney, who’ve got the best names ever, and I was like, ‘You are Lisbeth, you both are; you’ve done an incredible job’. I thought, ‘Why would anybody be interested in inviting that judgment and criticism and taking it on again?’”

But she couldn’t resist the opportunity to play a unique character who is not quite who she seems in a film based on a fourth book in the series, written by another author after Stieg died.