Hollywood Popular Artists

Aug 16th 2013, 16:00, by Kevin P. Sullivan

In the last few years, Rooney Mara has quietly racked up films made by a string of A-list directors like David Fincher, Terrence Malick, and Steven Soderbergh, but her latest film, "Ain't Them Bodies Saints" with Casey Affleck, comes from a relatively unknown director, but one that's adored on the awards circuit, David Lowery.

When Josh Horowitz spoke with Mara, she recalled being struck by Lowery's screenplay, which tells the story of a husband who aims to reunite with his wife and child after escaping from prison.

"I can't remember exactly the timeline, but I think this movie was the first thing that I signed on to do after doing 'Dragon Tattoo.' It wasn't the first thing I made after 'Dragon Tattoo,' but it was the first thing I committed to," she said. "I just loved the script so much. David is a phenomenal writer. When I met with him in person, I could just tell he was special and he knew what movie he wanted to make. He has a very special voice. I just knew I wanted to be a part of it."

And with the indie director came an indie-length shoot; Mara only spent three weeks on set. "Three weeks is really quick. It's definitely challenging," she said. "You don't have as much time for things, but I think that it can serve a film in a lot of ways. You don't have too much time to overthink things. Even though it was only three weeks, it certainly felt much longer than that when we got really close."

"Ain't Them Bodies Saints" hits theaters and VOD this weekend.