David Fincher’s Girl with the Dragon Tattoo takes all kinds of risks—including casting newcomer Rooney Mara (she beat out Scarlett Johansson). She’s also the Vogue cover girl in the November issue — and she looks stunning in the photographs by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott. “Before, I dressed much girlier,” she says in the magazine. “A lot of blush-colored things. Now I literally roll out of bed and put on whatever is there.” See the photos here.

So why didn’t Fincher cast Scarlett? He told Vogue: “Look, we saw some amazing people. Scarlett Johansson was great. It was a great audition, I’m telling you. But the thing with Scarlett is, you can’t wait for her to take her clothes off.”