Carey Mulligan biography

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Actress. Born on May 28, 1985, in London, England. Scoring an Academy Award nomination in 2010, Carey Mulligan has emerged as one of today's most promising young film stars. She is the daughter of a hotel manager, spending her youth in Germany and England. While in school, Mulligan performed in a number of theatrical productions, including the musical Sweet Charity.

Mulligan met screenwriter Julian Fellowes when he spoke at her school. He eventually put her in touch with a casting agent. That agent helped her land a role in the 2005's Pride & Prejudice starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen, who played the legendary literary couple from the Jane Austen novel. Mulligan and Knightley became good friends during the filming of the movie. That same year, Mulligan had a featured role in the British miniseries Bleak House based on the work by Charles Dickens. She played an orphan engaged in a protracted legal battle set in 19th century England. More television projects soon followed, including 2006's The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard and 2007's Northanger Abbey.

Making her Broadway debut, Mulligan starred in a revival of the Chekov classic The Seagull with Peter Sarsgaard and Kristin Scott Thomas in 2008. Back on the big screen, she played a prostitute in the 2009 gangster film Public Enemies starring Johnny Depp. Mulligan re-teamed with Sarsgaard for her greatest success to date, the critically acclaimed coming-of-age drama An Education. In the film she played Jenny, a smart but restless teenager who becomes involved with a much older businessman (Sarsgaard) in England during the early 1960s.

Mulligan's nuanced portrayal of Jenny earned rave reviews when the film was shown at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. And the critical support for the drama just continued to grow, which eventually netted three Academy Award nominations. Mulligan was nominated for Best Actress, a honor she shared with some of Hollywood's top performers, such as Meryl Streep and Helen Mirren.

After An Education, Mulligan's career has enjoyed a substantial boost. She has several projects set to debut in 2010, including playing Michael Douglas's daughter in Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps. While working on the film, she began dating one of her co-stars, Shia LaBoeuf. Mulligan has also reunited with friend Keira Knightley for the thriller Never Let Me Go.

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