Carey Mulligan

In 2004, Mulligan made her stage debut in the play Forty Winks at the Royal Court Theatre in London.[15][16] She made her film debut the following year in Joe Wright's 2005 film adaptation of the Jane Austen novel Pride & Prejudice, portraying Kitty Bennet alongside Keira Knightley. Later that year, she won the role of orphan Ada Clare in the BAFTA award-winning BBC adaption of Charles Dickens' Bleak House, her television debut.[17]

Among her 2007 projects were My Boy Jack, starring Daniel Radcliffe, and another Jane Austen adaptation, Northanger Abbey, starring Felicity Jones. She rounded out 2007 by appearing in an acclaimed stage revival of The Seagull, in which she played Nina alongside Kristin Scott Thomas and Chiwetel Ejiofor. The Daily Telegraph said her performance was "quite extraordinarily radiating'" and The Observer called her "almost unbearably affecting."[18] While in the middle of the production, she had to have an appendectomy, preventing her from being able to perform for a week.[18] For her debut Broadway performance in the 2008 American transfer of The Seagull, she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award, but lost to Angela Lansbury for Blithe Spirit.[19]

In 2007 Mulligan appeared in the Doctor Who episode "Blink". The episode was unusual in that Mulligan's character was the protagonist, while the titular character of the Doctor was more in the background. Blink received widespread acclaim and is considered one of the best dramatic episodes of the show. Mulligan won the Constellation Award for Best Female Performance in a 2007 Science Fiction Television Episode.

Mulligan and Peter Sarsgaard at the 2009 New York premiere of An Education

Her big breakthrough came when, at 24, she was cast in her first leading role as Jenny in the 2009 independent film An Education, directed by Danish filmmaker Lone Scherfig and written by Nick Hornby. Over a hundred actresses auditioned for the part, but Mulligan's audition impressed Scherfig the most.[20][21] The film and her performance received rave reviews, and she was nominated for an Academy Award, Screen Actors Guild, Golden Globe, Critics Choice and won a BAFTA Award. Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly and Todd McCarthy of Variety both compared her performance to that of Audrey Hepburn.[22][23] Rolling Stone's Peter Travers described her as having given a "sensational, starmaking performance,"[24] Mulligan was the recipient of the BAFTA Rising Star Award nomination, which is voted on by the British public.[25]

In 2010, she was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,[26] That same year she starred in the film adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's acclaimed novel Never Let Me Go with Keira Knightley, and Andrew Garfield. She won a British Independent Award for her performance. That same year she starred in the Oliver Stone-directed film Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.[25] Screened out of competition at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival,[27] it was her first major studio project.[28] Later that year she also provided vocals for the song "Write About Love" by Belle & Sebastian.[29]

She returned to the stage in the Atlantic Theater Company's off-Broadway play adaptation of Ingmar Bergman's Through a Glass, Darkly, from 13 May – 3 July 2011.[30] Mulligan played the central character, a mentally unstable woman, and received glowing praise from reviewers.[31] Ben Brantley, theater critic for The New York Times, wrote that Mulligan's performance was "acting of the highest order"; he also described her as "extraordinary" and "one of the finest actresses of her generation."[32]

Mulligan co-starred in two critically acclaimed films in 2011. The first being Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive, with Ryan Gosling. The second film was Steve McQueen's sex-addiction drama Shame alongside Michael Fassbender[33] Both films were major film festival hits. Drive debuted at 2011 Cannes Film Festival and Shame debuted at 2011 Venice Film Festival, both to rave reviews. She was nominated for her second BAFTA award—Best Supporting Actress—for the film Drive which also garnered a total of 4 BAFTA award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director.[34] For her performance in Shame, she received critical praise as well as a British Independent Film Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Mulligan with the cast of The Great Gatsby (2013)

In 2013, she starred as Daisy Buchanan in Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby opposite Leonardo DiCaprio, which was released in May 2013.[35] Mulligan auditioned for the role of Daisy in late 2010. While attending a Vogue fashion dinner in New York City in November, Baz Luhrmann’s wife, Catherine Martin, told her she had the part. In May 2012, she was a co-chair, alongside Anna Wintour, for the Gatsby-themed 2012 Met Ball Gala.[36][37] In 2013, she also starred in Joel and Ethan Coen's black comedy Inside Llewyn Davis alongside Oscar Isaac, and Justin Timberlake. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival to rave reviews.[38]

In 2014, she starred in the London revival of the play Skylight with Bill Nighy and Matthew Beard, directed by Stephen Daldry, at Wyndham's Theatre in London's West End.[39] It won the 2014 Evening Standard Theatre Award for Revival of the Year and was nominated for the 2014 Olivier Award for Best Revival.[40] She followed the production when it transferred to Broadway at the John Golden Theatre in April 2015. The transfer was a massive success. The play won the Tony Award for Best Revival and she earned her first Tony Award Nomination as she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play.[41][42]

In 2015, Mulligan was praised for her roles in two acclaimed films released that year. She starred in Thomas Vinterberg's film adaptation of Thomas Hardy's novel Far from the Madding Crowd with Matthias Schoenaerts, Tom Sturridge, and Michael Sheen,[43][44] as well as Sarah Gavron's Suffragette with Helena Bonham Carter, Ben Whishaw, Brendan Gleeson and Meryl Streep.[45]

In 2017, she starred in Netflix's Mudbound, directed by Dee Rees. The film was met with critical acclaim. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 97% with the consensus reading, "Mudbound offers a well-acted, finely detailed snapshot of American history whose scenes of rural class struggle resonate far beyond their period setting."[46] The film earned four Academy Award nominations including Best Adapted Screenplay for Rees. The same year she was also cast as Gloria Steinem in the Dee Rees film, An Uncivil War.[47]

In 2018, she starred in Paul Dano's directorial debut film Wildlife with Jake Gyllenhaal. The film was written by Dano and Zoe Kazan, and is an adaptation of Richard Ford’s novel of the same name. The film debuted at the 71st Cannes Film Festival and received rave reviews from critics. The film has earned a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes with the consensus reading, "Wildlife's portrait of a family in crisis is beautifully composed by director Paul Dano – and brought brilliantly to life by a career-best performance from Carey Mulligan."[48] Mulligan received a Best Actress Nomination from the Independent Spirit Awards.

Mulligan stepped back into television with her steely performance as a detective inspector in Collateral, a BBC Two limited series, receiving plaudits from American and British critics.[49][50] Mulligan praised showrunner Sir David Hare for seamlessly accommodating her pregnancy into the script.[51]

Mulligan appeared off Broadway in the solo show, Girls and Boys at the Minetta Lane Theatre. The show was written by Dennis Kelly and directed by Lyndsey Turner. Her performance was praised, with The New York Times calling it "perfection". While promoting the show on Stephen Colbert's Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Mulligan described being injured while the curtain was going down. Bradley Cooper, who was in the audience, visited her backstage and carried her to urgent care.[52]

In 2020, Mulligan starred in Emerald Fennell's black comedy thriller film Promising Young Woman alongside Bo Burnham, and Alison Brie. Mulligan also served as an executive producer on the film. The film debuted at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival to great acclaim with the website Rotten Tomatoes, having the film's approval rating of 92% and the critics consensus reading "A boldly provocative, timely thriller, Promising Young Woman is an auspicious feature debut for writer-director Emerald Fennell -- and a career highlight for Carey Mulligan."[53] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the film's release was delayed and was released on 25 December, 2020.[54]

Mulligan starred in the 2021 film The Dig alongside Ralph Fiennes and Lily James about the events of the 1939 excavation of Sutton Hoo. It was released as a limited release in UK cinemas on 15 January 2021, followed by streaming on Netflix 29 January 2021.[55]

It was announced that Mulligan would star in Bradley Cooper's second directorial film Maestro about the life of Leonard Bernstein starring Cooper as Bernstein, and Mulligan as Bernstein's wife Felicia Montealegre and Jeremy Strong as John Gruen. In a statement released by Cooper he wrote, "I was struck by Carey ever since I saw her onstage many years ago and I haven't missed a performance of hers since. I am humbled to be working with such a mammoth talent, as well as such a kind person in Carey." The film is set to be released on Netflix.[56]