Carey Mulligan.Photo: Stephane Cardinale/Corbis/Getty
Carey Mulliganis speaking out after a review ofPromising Young Womancalled her “a bit of an odd choice” for the lead role.
In the black-comedy thriller, Mulligan plays Cassie, a conniving former medical student who had a bright future ahead of her until a traumatizing event derailed her life, leading her down a road of revenge.
The 35-year-old star chatted withThe New York Timesin an interview published Wednesday about the film and the review fromVarietythat called her “a fine actress,” albeit one who “seems a bit of an odd choice as this admittedly many-layered apparent femme fatale.”
“I read theVarietyreview, because I’m a weak person,” Mulligan said. “And I took issue with it. … It felt like it was basically saying that I wasn’t hot enough to pull off this kind of ruse.”
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Carey Mulligan inPromising Young Woman.Courtesy of Focus Features
The review went on to say, “Margot Robbieis 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 blond hair feels like a put-on.”
“It wasn’t some sort of ego-wounding thing — like, I fully can see that Margot Robbie is a goddess,” Mulligan told theTimes. But the mention of appearance at all “drove [her] so crazy.”
“I was like, ‘Really? Forthis film, you’re going towrite something that is so transparent? Now? In 2020?’ I just couldn’t believe it,” the actress continued.
“We don’t allow women to look normal anymore, or like a real person,” Mulligan added. “Why does every woman who’s ever onscreen have to look like a supermodel? That has shifted into somethingwhere the expectation of beauty and perfectiononscreen has gotten completely out of control.”
Varietylater added a statement to the review after Mulligan’s quotes.
“Varietysincerely apologizes to Carey Mulligan and regrets the insensitive language and insinuation in our review ofPromising Young Womanthat minimized her daring performance.”
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The critically acclaimed thriller, which Fennell produced alongside Robbie, 30, also stars Bo Burnham,Laverne Cox,Alison Brie,Connie Britton,Jennifer Coolidge,Max Greenfield, Sam Richardson andMolly Shannon.
The movie was originally scheduled to debut in April but, like many films, was pushed back due to the ongoingcoronavirus pandemic.
Promising Young Womanhits theaters Friday.
source: people.com
