Carey Mulligan

"It's devastating news... A promise has been broken, we upheld our side of this deal and sadly the government are choosing to go back on their word... we feel it’s really important to be transparent with the public and with our donors specifically about where their money is going.... We need to be honest about it, and it's so important that public trust is there... It is a time-sensitive project and it would be an utter tragedy if one child was trafficked ...But we know that actually it will be thousands"

"The thing about awards season that gives it value is celebrating film, obviously, but also highlighting films that might not otherwise have had an audience. When I read the Promising Young Woman script, I felt... I had to do it... My favourite way of working is having really long conversations with the director. When that relationship is solid, and you can talk for hours and figure this person out, and do that to a degree with the other actors, it feels like such a human thing... I have not had to experience what Cassie has gone through in this film and I wanted to make sure that it felt accurate, so that it didn’t sit wrong with people who’ve got real pain... I would never ask someone to relive something terrible for the sake of a film... the truth is that this situation is so common and what happens in the film is such a sad reality. You want it to be really clear about that. [During the pandemic] I haven’t worked much. I did a few audiobooks... A Matt Haig book called The Midnight Library and a kids’ book called The Worst Warlock, which was really fun, with trolls and wizards. And the EM Forster short story The Machine Stops. Published in 1909, it’s about an apocalyptic society where everyone lives in their own bubble and nobody has any human contact and everyone communicates through what are essentially iPads. It’s just nuts."

"I think in criticising or bemoaning a lack of attractiveness on my part in a character, it wasn’t a personal slight. It didn’t wound my ego, but it made me concerned that in such a big publication an actress’s appearance could be criticised and it could be accepted as completely reasonable criticism. I feel it’s important that criticism is constructive. I think it’s important that we are looking at the right things when it comes to work, and we’re looking at the art and we’re looking at the performance... It’s important to call out those things, because they seem small and they seem insignificant... People around me at the time said, ‘Oh, get over it. People love the film.’ But it stuck with me, because I think it’s these kind of everyday moments that add up.... We start to edit the way that women appear on-screen, and we want them to look a certain way. We want to airbrush them, and we want to make them look perfect. Or we want to edit the way that they work, the way they move and the way that they think and behave. And I think we need to see real women portrayed on-screen in all of their complexity. I felt that it was one small thing to point out that could be helpful.... I was really sort of surprised and thrilled and happy to have received an apology... I kind of found it moving, in a way – to draw a line and know that had an impact. (speaking about Variety magazine’s first review of Promising Young Woman, a black comedy in which Mulligan plays Cassie)"

"I don’t want people... to form an attachment to me or my personality or my family or my life because that’s not healthy... When I started working, I was often the only girl in a roomful of men... I’d either try to please people by being lovely and sweet all the time — being polite and nice and getting the job done — or going in quite lad-ish and acting tough. Making ‘Suffragette’ made me realize I don’t have to do either of those things. I can be a woman... confident in my ideas... and I can get my voice heard without having to manipulate the situation."

"What I really love about the (Suffragette) film is that (her character) has a little boy and she doesn't have a girl... Because she has a son, it's sort of reflecting the idea that this fight isn't for women... It's for human rights and equality and that serves men as well as women and that was something watching the film and talking about the film now is really important: That feminism isn't just for girls. It's something that is everyone's issue."

"If Carey Mulligan reaches the Oscar podium on April 25 with her by turns thrilling and devastating lead performance in Emerald Fennell’s subversive feature debut Promising Young Woman, her win would cement her status as one of the most consistently brilliant actors in the industry today. Over the past 16 years, the 35-year-old Londoner has worked with quiet precision, bringing depth, complexity and intelligence to every part she takes on. While she’s still best known for playing strong-willed heroines in lyrical period dramas, it’s her contemporary roles... that are a true testament to her talent."

"Variety magazine’s first review of Promising Young Woman, a black comedy in which Mulligan plays Cassie, a woman who fools men into believing she is too drunk to give consent for sex, read: “Mulligan, a fine actress, seems a bit of an odd choice as this admittedly many-layered apparent femme fatale – Margot Robbie is a producer here, and one can (perhaps too easily) imagine the role might once have been intended for her. Whereas with this star, Cassie wears her pickup-bait gear like bad drag; even her long blonde hair seems a put-on.” ...Mulligan first took issue with the article in an interview with the New York Times in December, after which Variety updated its review with an editor’s note, which reads: “Variety sincerely apologises to Carey Mulligan and regrets the insensitive language and insinuation in our review of Promising Young Woman that minimised her daring performance.” Harvey’s original point remains in the text. The response from critics has largely sided with Mulligan... thrown him under the bus.”"

"Watching Cassie regain this power over these odious men is a deliciously giddy thrill... Scenes like Cassie tearing apart a college dean for her inability to protect and believe women or her surprisingly charming romance with a guy who might not be as toxic as the rest of them, there’s a lot here to recommend... First and foremost is Mulligan who is sensationally good as Cassie, showing hitherto unseen comic abilities, the kind of performance that never relents, it just builds and builds until finally it explodes. She’s always been good but never this flooring and with her headlining almost every scene, the film is forever compelling as a result as it’s impossible to drag your eyes away from her, curious to know just what she’ll do next. There’s also a magnetic turn from Bo Burnham as her love interest and the pair have genuine chemistry, enough to fill an entirely separate romantic comedy."

"Sarah Gavron, who directed ‘Suffragette’ says, “She works very hard and takes life very seriously. … I’ve heard people say that she’s wise beyond her years, and there is something about that I think right.”...When she was younger, Mulligan recalls, she had “visceral dreams” about being in films with Judi Dench. Then, when she landed a small part in her first film, 2005’s “Pride & Prejudice,” Dench was her co-star."