30 Days of Carol: Day 9 – Let’s Play “Which Co-Star is Rooney Mara With?”

most photos via shutterstock

click for all 30 Days of Carol

What’s in a name? A character. What’s in a face? A story. Here are the nominees for best cinematography. *I stare into the camera along with my co-presenter, Stanley Tucci, and we hold for five-more-than-anticipated seconds in silence as we wait for a delayed b-roll also someone coughs in the background*

Our faces: they can affirm or betray us. They are our narratives laid bare. And since we’ve talked a lot about Cate’s, it’s only fair we turn the camera around to Rooney’s. Where we were able to use Cate’s face as it related to Carol, Rooney’s face as Therese was necessarily restrictive, so we’ll have to take this outside the confines of the screen. For no reason, I’ve chosen to analyze Rooney’s face as it relates to every co-star she’s been with on a press tour or at an award ceremony and made it into a fun game.

It’s called “Which Co-Star is Rooney With?”, and because I still want to keep this Carol themed, your answers will either be “Cate Blanchett” or “Not Cate Blanchett.”  Take it slow on the scroll – you don’t want to spoil the answer! I’ll let you decide the story Rooney’s face is telling, and don’t forget to comment with your score! Are you ready to play?

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Erin

Los Angeles based writer. Let's keep it clean out there!

Erin has written 208 articles for us.

60 Comments

  1. On a break between interviewing job candidates. Legit considering swapping the interview with this test.

  6. Ok I’m one of those failures-of-a-lesbian who watched Carol and thought it was merely pretty good, but… these posts… they’re killing me… and I can feel the effect they’re having on my subconconscious… Day 9 and I’m already starting to believe I that really liked the movie and am developing a strange infautation with Cate (who’s not even my type)… by Day 30 I’m going to have lost my own opinion completely and will likely be watching Carol on repeat while I pine over Cate and probably start social media stalking her… damn you Erin… I should turn away while I’m still an intact, autonomous person, but… I won’t.

    • Taking into consideration both the old-fashioned and the modern definitions of the adjective ‘gay’, I think it’s safe to conclude that Cate Blanchett makes Rooney Mara gay².

  10. Mara looking at Cate as though she’s a dessert she didn’t order but is wondering if she can get away with having before the waiter notices.

  11. I mean really this should be part of deprogramming the patriarchy. You couldn’t look at these and not believe that being queer is the logical, superior option.

  12. What’s this, what’s this,
    There Rooney everywhere,
    What’s this, what’s this,
    She’s giving Cate “The Stare”,
    What’s this

    What’s this, what’s this,
    There’s something very wrong
    What’s this,
    The media is singing our song,
    What’s this,
    The streets are lined with
    Baby gays laughing,
    Everybody seems so happy,
    Have I possibly gone daffy,
    What is this, What is this

    There’s angels singing chorus,
    Inside our little heads,
    We’re watching the thirst between them,
    It’s knocking us all dead

    WHAT IS THIS,
    Caroltown, hmmmm

  13. It’s just that when she was directed to have eye sex with Cate she assumed it meant for the rest of her life

  14. Celebrities: they are just like us!
    Completely obsessed with Cate Blanchett, no reaction towards men…

  15. Ah, I see what you did here. Nice. Also, her Casey Affleck faces are spot on. Just ask Brie Larson.

    • Right? All the pics with Cate, dimples so deep you could fall into them OR she’s staring at her like Cate is water and she’s in a man-desert. All the pics with guys, Rooney looks like they just farted.

  17. My girlfriend and I did this quiz together and neither of us recognized any of the men: “Who’s that?” “I have no idea.”

  18. Oh. My. Goddess.

    This is both fantastic and brutal. My heart HURTS for how viciously you called out poor Rooney here. If anyone ever put ONE picture like this of me in a public forum, thus revealing my obvious soul-wrenching crush, much less approximately one million, each of which only adds to the terrible/wonderful pile of evidence against me! I cannot.

    But also, thank you.

    (Also, do you think she knows??)

      • I mean, you stand in front of all the cameras at Cannes and look at cate like that how could you not know? (and also, Cate does the same so…)

  21. How often is Todd Haynes the only thing standing in the way of eye sex turning into very public actual sex?

  25. I loved Carol and love your writing, Erin, but was had no idea this feature could be as deliciously entertaining as you have been making it. Thank you.

    “we hold for five-more-than-anticipated seconds in silence as we wait for a delayed b-roll also someone coughs in the background*

    (got one wrong, loved the whole thing).

  29. OK, this is oooold, and I loved it at first read, but I’ve cracked the code.

    Dimples = Cate. No dimples = everyone else, including that troll she’s inexplicably dug out from under the bridge and is “dating”.

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