Rooney Mara has stepped in to replace Mia Wasikowska on the upcoming adaptation Carol. Mia Wasikowska had signed on to star alongside Cate Blanchett back in May 2012, but it isn't known why she left the project.

The story is adapted from Patricia Highsmith's novella The Price of Salt, which follows the friendship formed by two vastly different women in the 1950s. Rooney Mara is playing a young woman in her 20s who works at a New York City department store and dreams of a better life. Cate Blanchett portrays a wife trapped in a dead-end marriage.

Todd Haynes (I'm Not There) is directing from a screenplay by Phyllis Nagy, with Elizabeth Karlsen, Stephen Woolley and Christine Vachon producing. Here's what Todd Haynes had to say about bringing Rooney Mara on board in a statement.

"We're over the moon to have Rooney on board. I've been a tremendous admirer of her work from the beginning, so the thought of bringing her together with Cate onscreen is thrilling to say the least."

Shooting is scheduled to begin next spring. Rooney Mara currently stars in Ain't Them Bodies Saints, and she can next be seen in Her.