Claire Foy Is Ditching Palace Life As The New Lisbeth Salander

claire foy lisbeth salander — (Image credit: James Gourley/BAFTA/REX/Shutterstock)

Liz, is that you?

If you've ever wanted to see Queen Elizabeth tatted up, glittering with facial piercings and rocking black leather, well - you're still not in luck. That said though, you'll be able to imagine what a young goth Liz would have looked like when Claire Foy steps into the role of Lisbeth Salander this year: a.k.a. the badass protagonist of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo series.

Given that Claire Foy has closed the door on her role as Queen Elizabeth on Netflix's The Crown, it was only a matter of time before she moved onto something else. She could have done the safe thing and banked on the role that made her famous by doing a good old British period drama, but we're absolutely ecstatic that she went for the polar opposite in Lisbeth Salander.

The new film is called The Girl Caught In The Spider's Web and is based on the fourth novel of the bestselling Millenium series revolving around Lisbeth, written by Stieg Larsson. Claire will be the third person to take up the mantle and motorbike helmet as the unsettling crusader, as Noomi Rapace and more recently Rooney Mara played the role.

We got a first glimpse of Claire looking unlike we've ever seen her before in a new trailer, where she's all decked out in white face paint and rocking a short pixie cut. It seems like the new film directed by Fede Alvarez will set her up as a feminist champion who saves women from abusers and is literally referred to as 'the righter of wrongs' in the trailer.

While some Twitter users quibbled with Claire's Svenglish accent, it looks like it's going to be a pretty cool action hero flick. Unfortunately, Daniel Craig won't be reprising his role as journalist Mikael Blomkvist (something that devastates me greatly) and instead Swedish actor Sverrir Gudnason will be stepping into his shoes.

Stephen Merchant is also set to star in the gritty film, however his role hasn't been formally announced. Your guess is as good as ours as to why the funnyman is there to begin with.

The film will be released later this year on 9 November, so you won't have to wait too long. That's just enough time to reread the entire Millennium series, if you need a little refresher.

Megan is a freelance journalist who covers entertainment and all things lifestyle, with a particular passion for fashion, beauty, travel and Keanu Reeves stories. She has previously worked on staff for titles including Marie Claire UK, CNN Style and The Evening Standard and has written for titles such as Bustle UK, Wallpaper*, Forbes and Hong Kong Tatler. She splits her time between London and her hometown Hong Kong, where she currently lives with the love of her life - an elderly dog named Poppy - and her husband.