Carey Mulligan on her post-performance tears and learning to accept nude scenes
British actress Carey Mulligan has spoken candidly about feeling uncomfortable with nudity, the lows of her career acting in theatre and feeling starstruck meeting Meryl Streep for the first time, in a rare interview.
Speaking in theĀ December issue ofĀ Harper’s Bazaar , the starĀ saidĀ “IĀ donāt think anyone relishes getting naked on set.”
“InĀ ShameĀ it was the perfect introduction to her character; she was just one of those people who have no qualms about their body. InĀ SuffragetteĀ (Mulligans latest film set to release next year)Ā it felt like the right thing to do. I didnāt want the lead actor to be protected from the same ordeal that the other people were going through in prison. So for work Iām fine with it,” she continued.
“But in my own life… the last time I wore a bikini on the beach was three years ago on a private family holiday. On the red carpet I wonāt wear anything above the knee, ever.”
Carey Mulligan
The actress also spoke about dieting for various film roles, revealing that for her upcoming role in Suffragette – in which she plays an imprisoned suffragette who went on a hunger strike – she went on an extreme diet of no sugar or fruit.
“The idea was to make me look kind of malnourished, but not in a serious way, it was more of a psychological thing…But it turned out to be complete bollocks. I gained weight. Even though I had no sugar or fruit or any of those things, I was told I could have nuts. So I ate massive packets of nuts every day. I never weigh myself, but I did weigh myself before and after, just to see, and I gained three kilos and all of my trousers didnāt fit.”
Carey Mulligan, full nude in Shame and The Greatest
Mulligan, 29, made her West End debut in June this year starring alongside Bill Nighy in the revival of Olivier Award-winning play Skylight. She recalled a disastrous night when acclaimed director Steve McQueen came to see “the worst show of the entire run”.