Over the course of her career, Carey Mulligan has shown her prowess at playing some of the most interesting female characters to grace the big screen, in features such as “Drive,” “Shame,” “Inside Llewyn Davis,” “Mudbound,” and “Wildlife.” However, according to the actress, not all of the female characters she has had the pleasure of bringing to life survive the editing room unscathed, which she feels is a serious problem in Hollywood.
Speaking to EW, while promoting her upcoming thriller, “Promising Young Woman,” Mulligan talked about her history playing complicated women and her disappointment when many of those characters are then “smoothed out in the edit.” The actress believes this isn’t a problem that she is dealing with on her own, as she sees it as more a systemic issue with how women are shown on screen.
“We don’t represent women honestly in film,” Mulligan explained. “We have historically liked to see idealized versions of what women are and what motherhood is, what romance is, how women behave in those scenarios. Women onscreen not behaving in ways deemed appropriate or likable don’t go down well.”
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One film that doesn’t do this is the aforementioned “Promising Young Woman,” which is written and directed by Emerald Fennell (“Killing Eve”). In that film, Mulligan plays a woman that vows revenge on men that prey on women and use their charm to put females in horrible situations.
“Emerald is interested in writing real characters about real women, and of course there’s an element to this film that feels stylized or that steps a little bit out of a straight-up drama, but it’s true to represent a female rage and all of the anger that women have experienced with all of the wrongs that have been done,” said the actress. “Not just in these sexual assault cases, but in general: We don’t see women angry at all. We see lots of muted women…. Emerald always says that’s just the truth [and] it would be bullshit to pretend any different.”
It would appear that early critics who have seen the film agree that “Promising Young Woman” is a feature that is not only entertaining but could lead to a busy awards season for Mulligan. The film is set to be released in theaters on December 25.