Are you ready for Lisbeth? The anxiously awaited edgy thriller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is finally crashing into theaters. Here's a breakdown of how the best-selling book became one of the most anticipated movies of the year!

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo looks to be a breakthrough role for up-and-comer Rooney Mara, so RadarOnline.com is taking a closer look at the buzz-worthy Hollywood beauty, who plays computer-hacker Lisbeth Salander in the highly anticipated motion picture.

With that in mind, here’s seven things you might not have known about the 26-year-old stunner ...

PHOTOS: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’s Rooney Mara

7. You've already seen her here and there: She's appeared on hit TV shows like Law & Order: SVU and ER; and films like A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Social Network.

Right now in Hollywood, actresses from Kristen Stewart to Keira Knightley are rumored to be chomping at the bit to play Lisbeth Salander, the bad-ass, bisexual hacker at the center of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. But long before American casting buzz started heating up, the Swedes made their own version of the movie, which arrives this week on DVD.

Based on Stieg Larsson’s best-selling book, Dragon Tattoo is the story of Lisbeth (Noomi Rapace), who’s seen her her share of trouble, and embattled journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), who’s framed in a corporate tussle. When they team up to investigate the mystery of a woman who’s been missing for forty years, they’re suddenly in over their heads in the dark secrets of a wealthy family, as both bullets and sparks fly in a desolate island town.

It’s easy to see why A-listers would line up to play Lisbeth. Unlike most Hollywood heroines, Lisbeth is nobody’s fool -- and certainly no damsel in distress. Full of piercings and rage, she’s as tough as nails and doesn’t fall into conventional roles: When it comes to both saving lives and sexy-time, she runs the show. Forget low-cut tops, flowing hair and hottie male heroes. There’s no room for vanity here, especially when it’s two degrees out on a frozen farm in Sweden.

As Mikael falls for this unusual woman, so do we. It’s not just that she rides a motorcycle at full-speed, punishes bad guys with ballsy tactics or outwits everyone, it’s that she’s sassy, unapologetic and sports combat boots like a pro. Lisbeth’s fans can savor juicy extras on the DVD, including interviews with director Niels Arden Oplev and actress Noomi Rapace, as well as an in-depth look at the nasty Vanger clan’s family tree. While the American edition won’t arrive anytime soon, the original Tattoo is a deliciously fun, fast-paced and taut thriller that should tide audiences over until Hollywood takes its turn.

A Single Man (R)
Fashion designer Tom Ford takes his style to the big screen with this adaptation of Christopher Isherwood’s period drama. Dreamy Colin Firth stars as a college professor struggling with the loss of his life partner, and who takes a closer look at his own just as he thinks he’s at the end of it. Fashionistas will appreciate the designer-director’s attention to perfect costumes, no matter how sad the subject material. (Colin Firth [George], Julianne Moore [Charley])

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Brooklyn’s Finest (R)
Grit, guns and fake New York accents collide in this drama about three cops in the Big Apple. Each is struggling with hurdles like booze and loyalty when their lives become intertwined during one long week of a crackdown on one of the city’s most notorious hubs for drugs and corruption. As they each face their demons, will they make it through this grand test of survival? (Richard Gere [Eddie], Don Cheadle [Tango], Ethan Hawke [Sal])

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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (R)
Casting for the American version of Dragon Tattoo has been the talk of the town, but Sweden made its own version of the film well before Hollywood got its hands on it. Based on the best-selling book by the late author Girl is the story of a famous journalist and a notorious female hacker whose paths intersect to solve a forty-year-old mystery. Sweden isn’t known for its heat waves, but life for these two gets a whole lot warmer when they tackle a dangerous case together. (Michael Nyqvist [Mikael Blomkvist], Noomi Rapace [Lisbeth Salander])

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