It was more fun, and I was braver!
I say that I have two complexes from Stieg Larsson.
But I also had a quantity complex his books were so thick!
Credit: JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images
There wassuch a controversy back then, if you remember.
What has it been like to meet the readers over the years?I think it has been fantastic.
Should he do this?
Because people were upset and afraid that I would set out to destroy his readership.
So in the beginning, they were quite tense, and I was nervous.
The girl is back!
He was the genius who created her.
But shehasto feel like mine, because otherwise I couldnt write the book.
So I sort of have her now in my veins, in my DNA.
You have answered these longstanding questions like, maybe the biggest one, why she has the tattoo.
How did you know it was time to answer that question?I thought, I must!
Ive said that I was inspired by Christopher Nolan, who tried to add, What was itreallywith Batman?
I felt the urge to answer that question.
I was sort of obsessed by it, talking about dragons all the time.
And then I got this advice to go into the big cathedral in Old Town in Stockholm.
Every Swedish schoolkid has been there.
But then I went in and tried to see it with Lisbeth Salanders eyes.
And then I saw something astonishing.
She had a sadistic psychiatrist.
That was a key moment for me.
You have the frame, but in it you’re able to use so much freedom.
I think I had to, otherwise it wouldnt be good.
I couldnt just write a copy.
For me, its a fantastic thing to do, and I was so passionate about the work.
People say, Arent they different writers?
Even though he created them, they feel like mine.
And then I add new characters thataremine.
Youre probably thinking the way Lisbeth thinks now.Of course.
She will always be some sort of enigma, but you should alwaystryto understand an enigma.
But if we really understand her, she will cease to be interesting.
We want to understand herjustenough.Just enough, yes.
Sherlock Holmesneededa Dr. Watson.
We couldnt be inside of his head.
We needed someone from the outside who saw him.
How do you feel like Lisbeth has evolved in your hands?I think I add darkness to her.
But deep down, there is still something really wounded.
Because in many ways, shes a feminist fighter.
Because we all watch these series on TV, butThe Crownwas sort of my all-time high.
I was absolutely obsessed.
Its a big step, of course, going from Queen Elizabeth to Lisbeth Salander.
The costumes and makeup alone!Yeah.
[Laughs]Its a big step!
But theres Lis-bet in both names.
Theyve been working with the script for two years now, I think.
They started even beforeThe Girl in the Spiders Webwas published because they read it, you know, secretly.
Its their movie, but I talk to [the producers] all the time.
It sounds like its going to be beautiful.Hopefully.
We have too many male characters, dont we?
Superman, James Bond, Spider-Man … Weneeda girl like her.
I think thats whyWonder Womandid so well!
Theres an appetite for this.Exactly.
Ive said it in interviews it made headlines in Stockholm that say, Never again!
But you never know.
When Im 70, maybe Ill miss it.
I respect writers who can write the same book all over again, but I couldnt.
It was just pure passion.
I felt Ihadto do it.
And I dont want to lose that energy.
So I think three is good.
Now I have a good story for the third one.
So we will see that.
I think Lisbeth Salander and Blomkvist are the heroes that we need.
We need hackers, and we certainly need good investigative journalists nowadays.
And theres so much bashing of journalists, isnt there?
Its vital for democracy, actually.
Because journalists are actually revealing the injustice, the corruption, the lies.
I think its more important than ever.
