From Anya Taylor-Joy to Jodie Comer: Who will star in the new TV version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo? | television

TIn his week Sky announced that it would remake Stieg Larsson’s 2005 novel The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo as an eight-part television series. All we know so far is that the film will be set in the present day and will be written by Steve Lightfoot and Angela Lamanna.

What we don’t know is who will play Lisbeth Salander, the aforementioned girl with the dragon tattoo. This will be important, because previous screen adaptations of Larsson’s books have made stars of those cast as Salander. In the 2009 Swedish version, she was played by Noomi Rapace, who was nominated for a BAFTA Award. In the 2011 remake by director David Fincher, she is played by Rooney Mara, who was nominated for an Academy Award. And in the 2018 film adaptation of The Girl in the Spider’s Web, she was played by Claire Foy, who wasn’t nominated for a BAFTA or an Oscar, but was still very good.

The Sky series will go into production this spring, so they’ve almost certainly cast their own Salander. But let’s not let that stop us from indulging in a little reckless speculation. Here’s who should play it.

Emma Corrin

Far from the best choice for the role, Corrin shares a strange, otherworldly intensity with Salander. They are magnetic and unpredictable, with a clear knack for challenging personalities. It’s also clear that they’re not afraid to play characters so well-known that they run the risk of slipping into caricature; Anyone who dared to play Diana, Princess of Wales, would make mincemeat of Salander. Additionally – and it’s a big plus – Sky’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo will be produced by Left Bank Pictures, which also produced The Crown. Look at it from a certain angle and you can almost convince yourself that she only made The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo because she was in a relationship with Corrin.

Jodie Comer

This is mainly because Comer is excellent at everything, so it makes sense that she would be excellent at this. She plays a troubled role very well (see 28 Years Later). She plays the role very well (see Help) and she’s not a bad sociopath either (see Killing Eve). The latter also shows that she knows her way around an accent which might also come in handy considering the series is filmed in Lithuania. If you wanted a familiar face who could disappear into a role, she would be the one to choose.

Anya Taylor Joy

Although she has largely left television for film, Taylor-Joy’s biggest star-making vehicle to date is the Netflix miniseries The Queen’s Gambit. She’s at her best when she’s given time to fully interrogate a role, rather than skating along the film’s surface as a pretty supporting character, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo allows her to do just that. It’ll also be terrifying, which works to its advantage.

Alba August

We shouldn’t forget that The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is a Swedish book, so it might be better if the series cast someone more geographically authentic. If so, August, the Danish-Swedish actor, might be a good shout. She’s been good at everything she’s done — she was great in Netflix’s post-apocalyptic series The Rain — and it’s as if she’s been waiting a long time to make her breakthrough in English. This would definitely be it.

Noomi Rapace

Or how about this? Sky’s announcement alluded to the fact that The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo will be set in the present, so perhaps the gimmick is that all the characters are 20 years older than they were when the book was published. If that’s the case, recasting Rapace in her breakout role would be a no-brainer. Rapace is now 46 years old. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see what Lisbeth would be like in middle age? Has she eased over time, or has she become angrier than ever? The new series probably won’t go that route at all, but it will be a great experience.

To the person who’s already been cast as Salander, if he’s reading this and getting progressively angrier that I didn’t name him as an obvious choice for the role, sorry. Obviously you would be much better than any of the people I mentioned. It’s my fault. I’m not very creative. Unless Corrin is chosen, in which case I told you so.