Awards season has been a roller-coaster of sorts for 24-year-old Carey Mulligan, who rode in on a wave of acclaim for her remarkable performance as a smart, ambitious London schoolgirl seduced by a charming older man in “An Education.” She’s been a favorite, a Best Actress winner at the National Board of Review and, last weekend, at the BAFTA awards; she’s also seen her Oscar chances eclipsed by the sudden rise of Sandra Bullock.
Mulligan now finds herself in the Oscar acting category that may hold the best chance of an upset: Quentin Tarantino recently said he was torn between voting for her and Gabourey Sidibe (“Precious”), the two remarkable young actresses who are competing against Bullock, Meryl Streep and Helen Mirren. She certainly belongs in the thick of the race.
The actress has yet to pick her first post-Oscars project (she’d love to return to the theater), but she has three movies coming out this year: Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street”; “Never Let Me Go,” with Kiera Knightley and Sally Hawkins; and “The Greatest,” which recently showed at Sundance. But first, there’s the remainder of awards season to navigate.
(Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
It certainly looked as if the BAFTA award took you by surprise.
A huge surprise. Massive. I went offstage and burst into tears because I’d forgotten to thank the director [Lone Scherfig], which was pretty horrendous. So I spent the next two hours trying to find her and apologize. It was awful. If I’d had any idea I was going to win, I would have written something, so it wasn’t such a rambling mess.
A huge surprise. Massive. I went offstage and burst into tears because I’d forgotten to thank the director [Lone Scherfig], which was pretty horrendous. So I spent the next two hours trying to find her and apologize. It was awful. If I’d had any idea I was going to win, I would have written something, so it wasn’t such a rambling mess.
And yet a fair number of people were predicting that you’d win. I guess you don't pay attention?
No. I stopped reading stuff back in October, when I was in New York. And I’ve managed to stick to it, which is really good. I was on the red carpet, and someone said, “The bookies have tipped you to win,” and I was like, “WHAT?” That was the first I’d heard of it.
No. I stopped reading stuff back in October, when I was in New York. And I’ve managed to stick to it, which is really good. I was on the red carpet, and someone said, “The bookies have tipped you to win,” and I was like, “WHAT?” That was the first I’d heard of it.
When we spoke at the Santa Barbara Film Festival, you said that you were finally learning to relax and enjoy awards season. Did that take some doing?
Yeah. It’s a completely different environment from anything I’d ever experienced before, so it was a little bit nerve-wracking when I first started getting into it. And mainly, it’s the stuff that happens outside that scares me. The press, and the photos, that side of things. Once I’m inside, I’m kind of okay. But I’ve been able to laugh at it more than I could at the beginning, when I was scared. And now it’s just like, the spectacle of it is so funny.
Yeah. It’s a completely different environment from anything I’d ever experienced before, so it was a little bit nerve-wracking when I first started getting into it. And mainly, it’s the stuff that happens outside that scares me. The press, and the photos, that side of things. Once I’m inside, I’m kind of okay. But I’ve been able to laugh at it more than I could at the beginning, when I was scared. And now it’s just like, the spectacle of it is so funny.
But at, say, the Golden Globes, you weren’t able to laugh at the spectacle.That was the first gown I ever wore, and I was terrified.
