michaelcalderbank: Carey Mulligan

Monday, December 19, 2011

Carey Mulligan

Carey Mulligan says Steve McQueen was her “biggest cheerleader” on the set of Shame.

The British actress stars as wayward Sissy in the McQueen directed-erotic drama, alongside Michael Fassbender.

The risqué film follows Brandon - played by Michael - a lonely sex addict in New York. His life is turned upside down when younger sister Sissy moves into his apartment.

Carey was thrilled to take on the challenging role, and was constantly inspired by filmmaker McQueen.

“I was so excited to play [the part of Sissy], and I was so liberating to play someone like that. She just doesn’t have any boundaries. She doesn’t really respect social conventions so it was fun. She just sort of spirals. Steve had a way of psyching me up every day. He was our biggest cheerleader when we were on set. We’d do a few takes and he’d come in and he’d proclaim us to be the best actors in the world,” she smiled in an interview with Stylist.

“And then he just asked us to be better. He’s just wonderful.”

Carey also impressed by the quality of scriptwriting.

The 26-year-old star was compelled to accept the role after feeling overwhelmed by the story.

“I thought it was a really beautifully written script. I don’t think I could have predicted how the film was going to turn out. I felt the same way when I watched it. I was completely taken aback and couldn’t talk for ten minutes afterwards, because I couldn’t process it,” she revealed.

“For me, when I read it, I thought this is a study of a man who is so interesting, especially with his addiction. It made people uncomfortable and I thought that was really brave. And then the character that I was playing was so extreme, and so far removed from anything I’d done before, and I wanted to give that a go, really.”