Biography
Date of Birth
28 December 1985, Westminster, London, England, UK
Birth Name
Carey Hannah Mulligan
Height
5' 7" (1.7 m)
Mini Biography
Carey Hannah Mulligan is a British actress. She was born May 28, 1985, in Westminster, London, England, to Nano (Booth), a university lecturer, and Stephen Mulligan, a hotel manager. Her mother is from Llandeilo, Wales, and Carey also has Irish and English ancestry.
Her first major appearance was playing Kitty Bennet in Pride & Prejudice (2005) alongside Keira Knightley, Judi Dench and Donald Sutherland. Carey also played orphan "Ada Clare" in the B.B.C. television series, Bleak House (2005).
Carey has said that her passion and love for acting was first kindled at her old school Woldingham School, where she took part in a school production of "Sweet Charity" in her final year, and where she was also a student head of drama.
Carey is married to musician Marcus Mumford, of Mumford & Sons.
Trivia
Received a nomination for "Best Supporting Actress in a motion picture or miniseries" at the OFTA (Online Film & Television Association) Televion awards in 2006 for her role in Bleak House (2005).
Voted Best Guest Actress by Doctor Who Magazine readers for Doctor Who: Blink (2007).
Received a 2009 Drama Desk Award nomination for "Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play" for her role in Christopher Hampton's re-imagining of Anton Chekhov's "The Seagull" on Broadway.
Was the UK recipient of the Shooting Star award from the European Film Promotion in 2009.
Won "Best Female Performance in a 2007 Science Fiction Television Episode" for the Doctor Who (2005) episode Doctor Who: Blink (2007), at The Constellation Awards (2008).
Mentioned in an interview at the Sundance Film Festival that the first actor she met was Julian Fellowes, who came to talk at her school. She approached him, and he introduced her to casting director Jina Jay's assistant; at the time, they were looking for young unknown actresses to play the younger sisters in Pride & Prejudice (2005). It ended up being her first job.
Has mentioned that she'd like to do a play every year.
Lived in London from birth until the age of three before moving with her family to Germany, where she attended the International School of Dusseldorf.
(August 2009-October 2010) Was in a relationship with Shia LaBeouf, having met on the set of Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010).
Replaced Keira Knightley in the role of Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady after she dropped out of the project.
Sang the lead female vocal on the title track of Belle & Sebastian's "Write About Love" album, released in October 2010.
Was originally cast as Violet in Violet & Daisy (2011) but was replaced by Alexis Bledel after she dropped out in order to pursue Drive (2011) instead.
Is close friends with Keira Knightley, having met on the set of Pride & Prejudice (2005).
Announced her engagement to Marcus Mumford, having been in a relationship with him since February 2011. [July 2011]
Daughter of Stephen (b. 1951) and Nano (née Booth) Mulligan (b. 1954).
Maternal granddaughter of Samuel (1924-1991) and Margaret (née James) Booth (1926-2017).
Paternal granddaughter of Ernest (1919-1979) and Kathleen (née Athy) Mulligan (1921-1992).
Younger sister of Owain Patrick Mulligan (b. 1983).
Good friends with Zoe Kazan.
Married Marcus Mumford in a rustic farmhouse in Somerset before 200 guests, including actors Colin Firth, Jake Gyllenhaal and Sienna Miller. Mulligan wore a plain, backless ivory gown, had 8 bridesmaids and Mumford's father, a vicar, officiated the ceremony.
Ambassador for the Alzheimer's Society; her maternal grandmother has suffered with the disease since 2000.
Did not learn to drive until she was age 23, and only learned to do so for the film Never Let Me Go (2010).
Was in consideration for the role of Annabel Richter in A Most Wanted Man (2014), but Rachel McAdams was cast instead.
16th Jan - 17th March performing "The Seagull" at Royal Court Theatre [March 2007]
She has Irish, Welsh, and English ancestry. Her mother was raised in Llandeilo, Wales.
Was childhood penpals with future husband Marcus Mumford, but the two lost touch before reconnecting as adults and later marrying.
Worked as a pub barmaid and studio runner between acting jobs.
Applied to three different Drama schools at seventeen but was turned down by all.
Was originally advised by Julian Fellowes not to become an actor and "Marry a lawyer instead". She later sent him a letter saying that she was serious about it and was invited to a dinner for aspiring actors.
Was inspired to become an actor at sixteen after seeing a performance of Henry V starring Kenneth Branagh.
Has starred in two films that recreate the year 1961: An Education (2009) and Inside Llewyn Davis (2013).
Her acting idols are Marion Cotillard, Cate Blanchett, and Kate Winslet.
It is often stated that she bears a strong resemblance to fellow actresses Michelle Williams and Adelaide Clemens.
(April 20, 2012) Married her boyfriend of fourteen months Marcus Mumford in Somerset following a nine-month-long engagement.
Has two children with her husband Marcus Mumford: a daughter Evelyn Grace Mumford (b. September 15, 2015) and a son Wilfred Mumford (b. August 2017).
Was six months pregnant with her daughter Evelyn when she completed her run of the Broadway play "Skylight".
Returned to work eight months after giving birth to her daughter Evelyn to begin filming Mudbound (2017).
Nominated for the 2015 Best Leading Actress in a Play Tony Award for her performance in "Skylight". She lost the award to Helen Mirren for her performance in "The Audience".
Suggested Matthias Schoenaerts for the role of Gabriel Oak in Far from the Madding Crowd (2015) after she saw him in the French film Rust and Bone (2012).
Was seven months pregnant with her son when she completed filming on Collateral (2018).
Returned to work six months after giving birth to her son to begin performing in the West End play "Girls and Boys".
During her June 2018 Broadway preview of the one-woman play "Girls and Boys," Carey was injured when the heavy curtain came down unexpectedly and struck her on the head. Mildly concussed from the experience in her dressing room after the show, she had to be taken to Urgent Care in Manhattan and was accompanied there by Bradley Cooper who happened to be in the audience.
She was among the actresses considered for the role of Lisbeth Salander in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011) before Rooney Mara was cast.
Has stated in an interview that her nude scene in "Shame" was liberating. It's also her first.
Quotes
About her Pride & Prejudice (2005) co-stars: We were like one big family. We took over the house. It was so much fun. Brenda Blethyn (Mrs Bennett) mummied us all - when we had days off she took us on day trips to a llama farm.
(About Pride & Prejudice (2005)) I love it when we're a family unit, I mean we've been sort of split up in various pieces, but when we are presented as the Bennetts, in that scene where we go to Netherfield where it is a Miss Bennett, a Miss Bennett, a Miss Bennett and a Mrs Bennett. I just like that we're all together.
(About Jena Malone in Pride & Prejudice (2005)) I think Jena helped a lot because I have sort of leaned on her the whole summer basically, a) in my character and b) just because she is so much more experienced than I am. She kind of psyches me up for stuff and sort of helps me get in the giggly frame of mind.
(About her school) "I had wanted to act for a really long time, but other schools I had been to did not have such good drama departments. Everyone was so encouraging. You could do anything you wanted to, although you had to take it seriously. If you missed rehearsals, you were out."
(About Kitty and Lydia Bennett) "They completely relate to all of the giggling and gossiping, and especially when the militia arrive we put ourselves into the most ridiculous, lovely costumes and we just have to stand out."
I thought, 'Wow! That's why I am here! One day Al Pacino is going to ask me for a cup of tea and notice my potential. And then I am going to skyrocket!' -- on taking a job as a runner at a studio and spotting Al Pacino arriving to rehearse The Merchant of Venice (2004).
There were older men who used to come in. One guy had a red Ferrari, and one night, when I gave him his check, he signed it 'Dinner?' I freaked out! I was definitely not Jenny; she was bolder than I was. She had more to escape from. -- on working at a pub and comparing herself to her character in An Education (2009).
My generation tends to play it cool these days. But there is no room for cool. You have got to be irritating and desperate, and if you are not it is terribly boring -- on landing a role in Pride & Prejudice (2005) and becoming friends with co-star Keira Knightley.
My parents were completely against it. They wanted me to go to a university. They didn't know any actors; no one in my family was an actor. They were scared.
I love love stories, I love acting in love stories, I like portraying love stories. So I suppose that's the romantic side of me, but I am quite practical.
[on Shame (2011)] When I read the script, I found it terrifying. My English agents sent it to me and said, "There's this amazing part." For me, as an actor, it was sort of scary. I'd seen Hunger (2008), which was done by Steve McQueen, and I thought it was just incredible. And I'd always wanted to work with Michael Fassbender. So, I asked to have a meeting with Steve to pitch myself for the job.
[on Never Let Me Go (2010)] I read the book when it came out, and I always loved. I loved it first and foremost as a love story and about people who want very simple things from life and can't get them. Keira Knightley and I did Pride & Prejudice (2005) together and we've done lots of adaptations of Charles Dickens and Jane Austen, where the author is not around to tell you if it's rubbish. And so this was sort of doubly intimidating, because we had Kazuo Ishiguro with us, and you want to be everything that he imagined when he wrote it.
I'm very rarely recognized in public. I go about pretty happy. It just gets heightened around the time you're releasing something like this ['The Great Gatsby']. And then people are suddenly very interested, but for a brief amount of time, which is fine.
I think I model my life on Home Alone (1990). I want to have crazy fun and get into scrapes.
If you're walking down the street in L.A., people do sort of look at you like you're a hooker because it's so rare to see someone just walking.
I didn't feel like I was cool enough to go to a tattoo bar. They'd just laugh at me. So I went to Selfridges. Sanitary, if not rock'n'roll.
[on her audition for The Great Gatsby (2013)] It was me, Leonardo DiCaprio and Baz Luhrmann, who was shooting from five different angles. There were four other people in the scene and Leo played every single character, jumping around the room.
I spent the first five years of my career thinking that everyone behind the camera had little notepads and were making my performance out of ten.
The idea of not having any control over what you're doing is terrifying. I was never very rebellious. The one and only bad thing I've done is have a super-heroes party when I was 16.
I constantly watch people like Marion Cotillard or Cate Blanchett or Kate Winslet. I have a fear of being passive, and what I admire about all those actresses is that every choice they make is really strong. Even if they're playing something very quiet, it's visceral and bold.
[on Marion Cotillard] She's consistently incredible, she does really cool films and doesn't engage with the stupid side of it. And she's private - I don't know anything about her, and I quite like that.
[on Matthias Schoenaerts, her co-star in Far from the Madding Crowd (2015)] I remember watching Rust and Bone (2012) and thinking that I'd never seen such a huge, hulking, handsome real man on the screen. So I was overjoyed to get him in this film. Gabriel Oak is someone who tells you exactly what he thinks, and that's the connection to Matthias. He's got a fantastic ability to show what he's thinking just through the way he looks at you.
[on privacy] Lawyers don't have to go into the office and talk about having children, or how they met their husbands, and there is no reason why you should as an actor. And if you give a little bit people will dig way further.
[on working with the Coen brothers on Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)] Their direction is very light touch but so confident. They know exactly what they are doing. You finish work at about four in the afternoon because they get everything done so quickly.
Posing on the red carpet feels like you're selling something that has nothing to do with you. If you do it with someone else, it's like we're saying, 'Oh! We come as a pair! Would you like to buy both of us? We're available for weddings and Bar Mitzvahs!
