Rooney Mara never wanted to be a "child actor".

Rooney Mara

Rooney Mara

The 32-year-old actress made her professional acting debut in 2006 when she appeared in 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit', and while the star has revealed her sister Kate Mara knew she wanted to be in front of the camera at a young age, Rooney was keen to continue her education before she embarked on her career in the entertainment industry.

Speaking about the film business, the brunette beauty said: "Kate knew definitively that she wanted to be on Broadway and do music and acting by age ten. Maybe because I was a contrarian, I wanted to go to school and not be a child actor."

Despite boasting 10 years in the film business the 'The Social Network' star still believes she is "really not" that good at auditioning.

She explained: "Auditioning is like going on a job interview. You have to wear a certain outfit and behave a certain way and play the game a little bit, and I'm just not good at that. I'm really not."

Rooney has revealed she has been typecast as not being "wide-eyed" by film producers because of the role she played in 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'.

Speaking about her struggles, she said: "The producers were like, 'You're just too 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'. You're not wide-eyed and innocent enough'. It was right after I had shot 'Carol', but it hadn't come out yet. I'm literally wide-eyed in that.

"I'm sure at some point it will be the reverse: 'You're not edgy enough.'"

But the 'Lion' star has revealed the knock-backs have only made her stronger and more determined to succeed.

She told Vogue magazine: "It only makes me bolder. It only makes me want to be like, F**k you! Watch me be wide-eyed and innocent."