Carey Mulligan says she “hounded” director Steve McQueen for a role in his flick “Shame.”
Mulligan that she met with McQueen about the 2011 movie — and wouldn’t let the meeting end until he’d given her a part.
“I was… was very, very keen and eager in our meeting to the point where I sort of jumped in a taxi with him to Soho, just because he sort of kept trying to end the meeting,” she told Deadline, “I just wouldn’t leave him alone and I think he sort of eventually tired of me badgering him.”
Mulligan told the anecdote as part of the 36th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Monday, where she was being honored with the Cinema Vanguard Award for her acting career and performance in her latest film “The Promising Young Woman.”
The actress wore white for the virtual event and Laverne Cox presented her with the award, describing her work as “subtle and understated, dialed-in and deeply committed to the truth.”
“Thank you so much for presenting me with this,” Mulligan said, “It means a huge amount, not only because I’m just an enormous admirer of your work as an actress, but also because of the way you stand for things that matter to you within your work life.”
Mulligan Zoomed with Deadline’s award columnist Pete Hammond before she accepted the award and reflected on her acting career, speaking about her roles in films like “Shame” and working with Leonardo DiCaprio in “The Great Gatsby.”
“He is a true star and a brilliant actor, but what he does that he doesn’t need to is amazing. Like every time the camera is off him and it’s on someone else, he is committed and as brilliant as he is when the camera is on him, and that just gives you so much as an actor to play with,” she said. “It raises your game.”
The 10-day festival ends on April 10. Sacha Baron Cohen, Amanda Seyfried and Delroy Lindo are next in line to appear and be honored at the festival.