Aug 22, 2016 10:00 AM EDT By Jane Reed, UniversityHerald Reporter

She wanted to get an education first before doing anything else. Rooney Mara, also known as the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, studied non-profits and psychology at New York University.

Unlike her sister Kate Mara, she decided not to audition for any roles until she became 19 years old, according to Brit. This American actress made her on-screen debut with the slasher film titled Urban Legends: Bloody Mary, in 2005.

But her break out role was in Tanner Hall. But she is well known for her role as Lisbeth Salander - the title character in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. It was a movie adaptation from Stieg Larsson's Millennium novel series. It was that role that earned her critical acclaim. But before she became famous, she was a normal girl that graduated from Fox Lane High School in 2003.

Unlike most college students, she went to Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia in South America. She did this for four months as part of the Traveling School. The Traveling School is an open learning environment. Afterwards, she attended George Washington University for a year. She then transferred to New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study. She took up psychology, international social policy and non profits. Aside from being an actress, she is also a well known philanthropist.

She wanted to be like her sister. But she never wanted to act when she was a child. She said that "it never seemed that honorable to me, and I guess I was always afraid that I might fail." Her resistance drew her closer to education. The only time she delved into acting was for a high school play. She was Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. The thing is, she did not plan to audition for the role. She was signed up to audition. She dipped into acting at NYU and was able to do a couple of student films.

It was only at 19 that she started auditioning for acting gigs professionally.

Want to know some more Mara Rooney facts? Check out the video below where she spills the beans about her favorite movies and embarrassing scenes:

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