Carey Mulligan’s kiss is helping her career!
When it came to casting the role of Daisy Buchanan in the upcoming big screen adaptation of “The Great Gatsby,” directed by Baz Luhrmann, Carey’s intimate audition moment with co-star Leonardo DiCaprio helped her land the plum role.
“I was terrified of reading with him. But it said in the script that Daisy kisses Gatsby, so I asked if I should, and Baz said, ‘Yes,’ so I kissed him,” she told Access Hollywood at the junket for her upcoming 3-D movie.
Her role-winning kiss news (Blake Lively, Natalie Portman and Michelle Williams were also up for the role) came as a surprise to the actress until just recently.
“That’s what I’ve heard, but only in the last couple of days,” she continued.
PHOTOS: Stars Caught Kissing!
And when Carey got the call, she was overcome with emotion.
“Lots of tears, lots of tears. I thanked [Baz] for about 10 minutes. I wouldn’t let him talk. I just kept saying, ‘Thank you.’ And cried, a lot!”
She told Access that working with Leo was a dream.
“I’ve always admired him so much, and always loved his work so much. I had no idea what kind of actor he would be. It turned out that he was just really a hard-worker and really generous to everyone else. He sort of wants everyone to be as good as they can be,” she said. “In the audition, he started improvising off-camera, as Gatsby, just to help me give a better audition. That’s how kind generous he is. He did that the whole way through the film. “
But even with Leo’s help, the actress had trouble watching herself on the big screen.
“I went with my friends, and I made them sit in other rows away from me, and I sat in the corner and had my leg in front of my face. I hid. But I was able to watch the film as a whole, and I was able to see the performances that I never got to see when I was filming,” Carey told Access.
“The Great Gatsby” opens on May 10.
Copyright © 2024 by NBC Universal, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be republished, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.