Kate Mara has been acting longer than most people realize; the cool redhead may have been one of those girls you spot in a film and think is familiar a couple of years ago, but ever since her creepy/crazy turn on “American Horror Story” season 1–and her brilliant portrayal of a young, ambitious journalist on “House of Cards”–Mara’s star is on the rise.

Here are some things you need to know about this talented lady:

1. Her little sister is Rooney Mara, star of “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”.

2. Her great-grandfathers were the founders of the New York Giants and the Pittsburgh Steelers and she often sings the National Anthem for the Giants when they play at home.

3. She graduated high school a year early and was actually accepted to the NYU Tisch School of the Arts, but decided to pursue acting and singing for three years.

4. She’s a talented tap and ballet dancer.

5. She was considered for the role of Catwoman in “The Dark Knight Rises”, but Anne Hathaway took the role instead.

6. She played Heath Ledger’s daughter in “Brokeback Mountain”, although she was only four years younger than he at the time.

“I was just four years younger than him, and I was playing his daughter, which is crazy. So beforehand, I was a little bit nervous about that. I thought, how are we going to make it believable? Are people going to laugh? But he was so genius that he never made me feel odd about it during the scenes. And Ang Lee is such an incredible filmmaker. I was young, and it was my first big movie. I was afraid that I was going to get fired every day because Ang is very specific. Heath was super-comforting. He said, ‘Oh no, this is how he is with everyone.’ Heath was very sweet with me. He was lovely in every single way,” she said.

Mara can be seen next in the upcoming film “Transcendence” and will star in next year’s “Fantastic Four” reboot as Sue Storm.

Image via Wikimedia Commons