Carey Mulligan out of the running for Tattoo movie

The will-she-won't-she guessing game surrounding British actress Carey Mulligan's chance of playing the title role in the upcoming Hollywood version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo looks to have been laid to rest. Mulligan herself has been dismissive of the rumour in recent days, and now the Mail on Sunday has quoted a source close to the film saying she's definitely not in the running having failed to impress in an audition.

"She just didn't fit the part," says the Mail's source. Director David Fincher apparently found Carey "too clean-cut" and is looking for a grittier actress to take on the role of the tattooed computer hacker Lisbeth Salander.

Two favourites for the part remain Juno actress Ellen Page and the Australian Mia Wasikowska, who played the lead in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. Whoever is chosen will be starring opposite Bond actor Daniel Craig as the investigative journalist Mikael Blomquist.

There is still a strong body of opinion that believes Hollywood will not find anyone better to play Salander than the Swedish actress Noomi Rapace, who took the role in the recent Swedish version of the Stieg Larsson thriller.

At least there's some happy news for Carey Mulligan: she is the favourite to play Eliza Doolittle in the new version of My Fair Lady, and her new film, Never Let Me Go, based on the Kazuo Ishiguro novel and co-starring Keira Knightley, has been chosen to open the London Film Festival on October 13. ·