Carey Mulligan
Carey Mulligan
Carey Hannah Mulligan is an English actress. She made her acting debut on stage in London in the Kevin Elyot play Forty Winks in 2004. Mulligan's feature film debut was as Kitty Bennet in the 2005 film adaptation of Pride & Prejudice. Mulligan had early roles on British television in such programs as Bleak House, and Doctor Who. In 2008, Mulligan made her Broadway debut in a revival of Chekhov's The Seagull to critical acclaim...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionMovie Actress
Date of Birth28 May 1985
CityLondon, England
I didn't want to do a costume drama. It's a great thing to do, but I've done them, and I didn't want to do the same thing again. Of course, costume dramas can be from all different eras, but at the time, I just felt very sure that I didn't want to be boxed in as an English actress. I wanted to be an actress, rather than an English actress.
I've always been quite careful about what I wanted to do. I've just never wanted to revisit old ground or do something that's easy. I want to do something that I would look at and go, "I don't know what to do!" The most exciting thing is when you're a bit scared, so I'm looking to find something that's really terrifying.
Remakes are a difficult thing 'cause some people feel very protective of the original.
When you start playing a character every day for seven weeks, it suddenly starts becoming easier
There's always the things that you think are going to be tough. I've been nude once, and I was like, "Oh, that's going to be a nightmare," and actually that was fine.
I can change my appearance quite easily just by changing my hair. So I can adapt quite well.
I don't think I want to play title roles. I don't want to be the face on the poster. I don't want that pressure of having the success riding on my shoulders. I just want to play the most interesting parts. I actually think it's incredibly rare to get an interesting female character that is the lead in a film. Usually the character parts are so much more interesting to play.
People always say, "You played such a strong character." I remember someone said that to me when I played a role in Shame, and she was a suicidal mess. I said, "She's not strong at all; she's incredibly weak." But "strong" to people means "real." It means you believe that's a person who exists, as opposed to some two-dimensional depiction of women.
One of the things I love about the theater is that no one can tell you to stop. Once you're onstage, it's three hours, and whether you're completely off or you're just horrendous, you've got to find a way to leave an impression. There's not that terrible thing that you get when you're making a movie, where you get in your car at the end of the day knowing that something you're not proud of was immortalized on film, and you can't fix it because they won't reshoot it.
I've always said I prefer theater, but there's only ever been one play that I really loved doing, and that was The Seagull.
I kind of had an idea that New York would be like Fashion Week, where everyone always looks incredibly chic and cool, and I wouldn't fit in.
When you do bigger jobs there's more attention and when you film in New York you get loads of paparazzi everywhere. It affects your work because you're trying to think about the person you're acting with and you've got 20 other lenses taking pictures of you at the same time, and it throws you.
I've never been obsessed with celebrity or star-struck or anything. I met Penelope Cruz when we were in Toronto, who I think is a goddess and an unbelievable actress, and she introduced herself. As she walked away from the table I had to take a deep breath, which was strange because I've never had that with anyone.