<P> Nevertheless, there are subtle ways in which the film adaptation differs from the original novel . This is particularly evident in the negotiation scene between Mattie and her father's undertaker . In the film, Mattie bargains over her father's casket and proceeds to spend the night among the corpses to avoid paying for the boardinghouse . This scene is, in fact, nonexistent in the novel, where Mattie is depicted as refusing to bargain over her father's body, and never entertains the thought of sleeping among the corpses . </P> <P> Open casting sessions were held in Texas in November 2009 for the role of Mattie Ross . The following month, Paramount Pictures announced a casting search for a 12 - to 16 - year - old girl, describing the character as a "simple, tough as nails young woman" whose "unusually steely nerves and straightforward manner are often surprising". Steinfeld, then age 13, was selected for the role from a pool of 15,000 applicants . "It was, as you can probably imagine, the source of a lot of anxiety", Ethan Coen told The New York Times . "We were aware if the kid doesn't work, there's no movie". </P> <P> The film was shot in the Santa Fe, New Mexico area in March and April 2010, as well as in Granger and Austin, Texas . The first trailer was released in September; a second trailer premiered with The Social Network . </P> <P> True Grit received a PG - 13 rating for "some intense sequences of western violence including disturbing images". It was the first Coen brothers film to receive such a rating since 2003's Intolerable Cruelty . </P>

Where did they film the new true grit