Carey Mulligan: ‘Given the choice, I’d rather not play accessories’

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Well… I kind of didn’t expect this. Carey Mulligan covers the May issue of Vogue to promote Far From the Madding Crowd, her Broadway turn in Skylight, and this awards-season hopeful Suffragette. And with all that going on, it’s still sort of boring. Boring by design – Carey Mulligan is a very quiet, self-contained person and she’s not doing any of this for fame or fortune. She’s a “real actress.” Which is great, although Real Actresses don’t always make for the most interesting Vogue subjects. Vogue paired her – for the photoshoot – with her Madding Crowd costar Matthias Schoenaerts. He doesn’t liven it up that much. You can read the Vogue piece here, and here are some highlights:

Doing a Broadway show: “I’ve always felt better in New York, doing theater. I think because there’s no one I know in the audience—or I can believe that more comfortably than I can in London.”

She doesn’t want to be “known”: “I have always felt that the less people know about me, the better. The more similar you look job to job, the more they relate to you from your previous roles. That’s why I’ve done loads of really stupid things to my hair in the past to try to not look the same.”

She admires Marion Cotillard most of all: “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.”

Her goal as an actress: “Given the choice, I’d rather not play accessories. And waiting for the non-girlfriend/wife thing usually takes a decent amount of time.”

[From Vogue]

Carey is also asked about her husband Marcus Mumford and what their marriage is like and she managed to say some words that barely mean anything and something about “splitting time” and she confirms that Marcus is staying with her in NYC while she’s on Broadway. Basically, she could teach a class in “answering personal questions without revealing anything personal at all.” I love what she says about not “playing accessories” and she even admits that holding out for the great parts is sometimes tough, and that means not working for months at a time.

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Photos courtesy of Mikael Jansson/VOGUE.

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36 Responses to “Carey Mulligan: ‘Given the choice, I’d rather not play accessories’”

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  1. GlimmerBunny says:

    I love her as an actress but I prefer her as a blonde. She was stunning in “The Great Gatsby” and looks very boring with brown hair (cute but ordinary).

  2. sensible says:

    Not feeling that cover, looks like she has just woken up. Not polished at all.

    • QQ says:

      Her eyes Always Make her Look pre-crying a La Aiana Grande especially when not much makeup is going on

    • Kitten says:

      Really? I LOVE the cover.

      • Je suis desole says:

        I love it too, brown hair really suits her. Always thought she was pretty plain but saw her on Graham Norton recently with the new hair and she looked startling pretty.

        But I really don’t get the hype over her acting, like at all? She gets good roles so I’ve seen her in a lot of things and to me she over acts kind of like Emmy Rossum or Michelle Williams. It was a distraction in Shame. The scene with her on the phone to her boyfriend with her halfway American accent stands out in particular.

      • J.Mo says:

        I really love the cover too! But not that other photo, my eyes are drawn to that blonde!

  3. Flahoola says:

    This is so refreshing from all the Kardashian tripe!

  4. Franca says:

    She’s one of my favourite actresses, so brilliant and seems like a great person too.

    I actually prefer her with brown hair, but for someone who is that beautiful, she looks quite unremarkable on the cover.

  5. Norman Bates' Mother says:

    Again – a big honk for Carey Mulligan. I know that for some, being uneventful and private like that is a big no but I like that about her. She is rather vague when asked about personal life, so the pieces about her usually involve several quotes from other people and after reading what some of her directors (i.e. Baz Luhrmann), co-stars or friends (mostly Jake Gyllenhaal) had to say about her, I got the idea that she is really fun and great to be around in real life but she chose to appear boring for the sake of the media and I respect that. There’s nothing wrong in wanting to be an actress and not a celebrity.

    • Norman Bates' Mother says:

      Too late too edit – I just read the whole piece and I only just found out that Carey and Marcus have a farm in Devon, 3 miles from the centre of Exeter, where I lived until recently and plan to come back in the next few months. How could I not know that as a big fan of both? Not that I plan to do something about it but it’s nice to think I might meet any of them one day.

    • Sixer says:

      I’m in the Blackdown Hills, NBM!

      • Norman Bates' Mother says:

        So close, Sixer! Blackdown Hills are beautiful. I tried to travel around Devon and Somerset as much as possible when I was still there.

  6. Marine says:

    God in the last picture she is nearly looks lol she dis 10 years in Pride and Préjudice ! She seems to have found the fountain of youth !

  7. Luca76 says:

    I really loved her in An Education and she is Sally Sparrow so she’ll always have a place in my heart .
    HOWEVER her work in Drive and Great Gatsby was so disappointing (albiet Daisy is such a thankless role) . Both characters were just an extension of the the male leads hopes and dreams and such a waste of her time and talent.

    • GlimmerBunny says:

      Really? I think she was amazing as Daisy. I hate the character but Carey’s vulnerability made me sympathize with her (The “beautiful little fool” conversation, the shirt throwing scene and the one where they are in Gatsby’s bed and he’s still looking at the green light stand out in particular.)

    • MooHoo says:

      I agree. I loved Education but haven’t really enjoyed much since. I prefer her brunette too, probably because of that Education role.

    • oneshot says:

      I think those movies are probably why she’s vetoed playing ‘accessory’ roles now. She’s learning from her mistakes.

    • msd says:

      Agreed. I thought she was fantastic in An Education but she was miscast in Drive and Shame, and limp in Gatsby. She lacks range I think.

      It’s also a bit of an eye roll that she wants to stay out of the limelight while doing a Vogue cover.

  8. OriginalTessa says:

    I think the cover is gorgeous. I love how simple it is and you’re just drawn in by her lovely face.

  9. Jbap says:

    Carey Mulligan is a particular favorite of mine – a great actress and by all accounts a lovely person. She’s also right about the dangers of actors getting too well known – although, if everyone followed her advice, we’d have almost nothing to talk about on this board, and not every actor has the type of career and/or personal contacts where they can just let their work speak for itself.

    • Lolle says:

      Or you must be interesting to be followed by media and paps. I find her boring if you compared her to other actresses. This is why she isn’t too well known

      • Bridget says:

        Because of there’s anything in life that’s true, it’s that things with mass appeal are interesting. I mean, look at how much the K ardashians are followed around?

        Paparazzi are by no means the arbiter of who or what is interesting.

  10. Maria says:

    I like her brunette.

    She’s the genuine deal, acting wise.

  11. Wheeze says:

    That’s Matthias Schoenaerts behind her in the other photo. I think that cover is deliberately plain and pared down.

    I have mixed feelings about Carey. I think Madding Crowd will be one of her best roles. I like her in some movies; in others she feels miscast. I agree with her that Marion is wonderful. So is Matthias. Please see Rust and Bone; it’s a moving film.

  12. serena says:

    Empty eyes and washed-out make-up aren’t doing her any favour. She’s a beautiful woman but this photoshoot is so boring!

  13. Talie says:

    This is one of those old-school Vogue covers where Anna puts on one of her favorites, but the public either doesn’t know her or doesn’t care.

    • Jegede says:

      Yup.
      Carey’s talented but audience specific.

      She clearly wanted to be more known to the public, which was why she took big projects like Gatsby and Wall Street 2, but overall I doubt she intrigues or interests people that much.

      Her last 2 Vogue covers were poor performers.
      The Gatsby cover was the worst selling of that year.

  14. FingerBinger says:

    Pretty but plain. It looks like a school picture.

  15. icy says:

    Another boring catalog-looking cover. American Vogue is getting worst. Fire Anna!!!

  16. Lucy says:

    She can do no wrong in my book!

  17. OTHER RENEE says:

    Lovely and talented actress. Absolutely horrible cover. Second pic much nicer.

  18. melodycalder says:

    I love her! Never let me go is her best movie in my opinion. She is fantastic and moving with Garfield and kneightly! I’m obsessed with that movie

  19. Alyce says:

    I really want her dress! That’s all I’ve got.

  20. oneshot says:

    She’s not conventionally the prettiest, but her face just has so much charm and character. I didn’t see the big deal at first when she broke out, but then I saw An Education, and she blew me away.

    She’s like the dead opposite of Blake Lively (also on the site today) in every way other than being a Wintour darling – talented, not a famewhore/not into selling her personal life for work, has personal style and an actual career making movies as opposed to shilling overpriced lifestyle crap.

  21. Naddie says:

    I remmember seeing her in Education and I thought “This one goes far”. I’m glad to know I was right.