Claire's surprising transformation

When director Fede Alvarez chose Claire Foy to star in the latest film in the 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' series, he had no doubt that the 34-year-old actor would easily transform herself into the intrepid cold-as-ice hacker Lisbeth Salander.After all, the British actor has experience of playing a fearless woman with ice running through her veins when needed as Queen Elizabeth II in 'The Crown.'

"I saw 'The Crown' one day and I was like, 'That's it, this is all Lisbeth,' because as crazy as that sounds, there is so much in common with the challenges of playing someone like Lisbeth or Elizabeth," Alvarez said in a recent telephone interview from Rome.

Fresh off her Emmy-winning turn as the British monarch on Netflix's popular drama, Foy is tackling one of the heroines of modern crime fiction - Salander, a Swedish hacker - in 'The girl in the Spider's Web.'

The film, which opens today in US theaters, follows Salander as she is hired to hack into a defense program that can control the codes for the world's nuclear weapons.

The role previously played by Noomi Rapace and Rooney Mara - represents a departure for Foy, allowing the actor to showcase a different, darker side. But the Uruguayan director says her regal role prepared her well."They are very similar characters," Alvarez said.

"The queen is never allowed to show she's angry or sad, always keeping a straight face in front of very different situations ... and Lisbeth doesn't allow herself to show her true emotions - she's pushing those emotions deep inside her."