For three or four years but particularly since Carol I’ve been nagged by vague thoughts about Rooney Mara‘s pursed lips. Obviously she has a problem with smiling (which I relate to) but the pursed lips, which have become her signature default expression (especially on the red carpet), seem like more of a facial tic than anything else. On top of which I’ve been wondering where she got it or if it’s just a natural ice-maiden thing Mara has been playing with since she was six or seven. Then it came to me last night — Brigitte Helm did the exact same thing with her lips in Fritz Lang‘s Metropolis….of course! Right in front of me all along.
![](/images/column/march17/brigitte227B.jpg)
![](/images/column/march17/carol227.jpg)
(l.) Metropolis star Brigitte Helm in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927); (r.) Rooney Mara’s Helm-like signature pose in Todd Haynes’ Carol (2015).
![](/images/column/march17/brigitte227.jpg)
![](/images/column/march17/carolpursed.jpg)
Ditto.
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