(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Noomi Rapace says people are so certain she is going to be rude they often ring her manager to compliment her manners after meeting her.

The actress plays tattooed computer hacker Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish trio of films based on Stieg Larssons Millennium Trilogy of novels. For the part, Noomi lost weight, cut and shaved her hair, smoked and had multiple piercings all over her body because she wanted to be as authentic as possible. Lisbeth is a difficult woman who rarely speaks and doesnt form friendships easily, and Noomi remains amazed that so many industry professionals think she is like the character.

I think people expect me to be a punk, aggressive, angry person with a lot of black make-up and really not be able to communicate and all that," she laughed. "And a lot of people actually called my managers and my agents and said, 'She's so nice.' But what did you expect? That I would come in and say '[Bleep] you?' It's pretty interesting."

Noomi has landed a part in the sequel to Guy Ritchies 2009 movie Sherlock Holmes, in which Robert Downey Jr. will reprise his role as the famous sleuth. The Swedish actress won the role the specifics of which she is tight-lipped about after meeting Robert in America. The pair spent a long time discussing their careers, and Noomi was amazed by how approachable the Hollywood icon was.

"We met for half an hour, talking about 'What kind of films do you want to do and how do you want to work?'" she told the Los Angeles Times. "Once we started to talk about the work, then it doesn't matter if it's a big movie star or not. You can talk with an open heart, and I totally forgot that he was a big, famous movie star. Then it's like, this is a real actor and I really like to talk to him." (C) Cover Media