和許多英國(guó)的年輕人一樣，凱瑞·穆麗根從小的夢(mèng)想就是成為演員，投身自己熱愛的表演事業(yè)。但同樣和許多家長(zhǎng)一樣，她的父母并不支持她的演員夢(mèng)想。然而，凱瑞并沒(méi)有因此放棄。終于，19歲的凱瑞在編劇朱利安·費(fèi)羅斯的妻子的介紹下參加了《傲慢與偏見》的試鏡，憑借著自身的天分贏得了班奈特家的四女兒一角，開始了她的演藝之路，并在幾年后憑著在《成長(zhǎng)教育》中的出色表演而一炮走紅。

從《成長(zhǎng)教育》到《了不起的蓋茨比》，我們看到穆麗根身上展現(xiàn)出的獨(dú)特魅力，迷人的文藝氣息和靈動(dòng)精湛的表演融于一體。她是《成長(zhǎng)教育》中清純天真、情感細(xì)膩的16歲少女；她是《羞恥》中叛逆不羈、任性放縱的年輕女孩；她是《了不起的蓋茨比》中輕浮空洞、令人討厭的黛西。時(shí)而清純迷人，時(shí)而性感撩人，凱瑞·穆麗根所飾演的女性角色總能在不經(jīng)意間就吸引住你全部的目光。

It’s early morning， but Carey Mulligan， 29， has already been up for hours； she’s still on London time after having just flown here for the Broadway run of David Hare’s Skylight.

Mulligan was born in Westminster， in central London. Mulligan’s acting bug came directly from her mother， a Welsh university lecturer named Nano， who constantly took Mulligan on mother-daughter outings to Saturday 1）matinees on the West End. Young Carey quickly became obsessed—“I kept this huge catalog of playbills， from every single show I saw，”she says. A trip to Broadway 2）sealed the deal； when she was 14， Mulligan and Nano flew to New York and saw a production of Cabaret. “It was so amazing and immersive and raw and alive and dangerous， and pretty shocking for a teenager，” says Mulligan， with a slight giggle. “I recently saw it again with my mum and she kept turning around and saying， ‘I cannot believe I took you to this then！’ But I remember walking out of that show and thinking， Cool—yep， this is what I am going to do.”

Other than following her gut， she had no idea how to become an actress. While at boarding school， she was cast in school plays but didn’t have much real-world contact with the theatrical community. So Mulligan did what any sensible British teen seeking a life on the stage would do： She wrote a letter to 3）Kenneth Branagh.

Branagh didn’t write back. But Branagh’s assistant did. “It was something like， ‘Kenneth is very busy doing a show， but he feels that if you feel there’s nothing else you can do， you should be an actor.’” Mulligan felt enough encouragement to apply to drama school. Unfortunately， her parents had other ideas. They did not want their daughter to become an actress.“My parents were really protective and didn’t think this was a particularly solid career，” she says. “They didn’t exactly forbid me， but they wanted me to go to university. I had other plans. I’ve always felt really in control on stage. I loved that feeling. And I lost interest in everything else.”

So Mulligan lied. In secret， she applied to three drama schools and told her parents she was going off to university interviews when actually she was at auditions. “It was the most rebellious thing I’d done， the height of my rebellion.” In the end， Mulligan was rejected from every program.

Even as she applied to traditional universities， Mulligan remained steadfast in her acting ambitions. Secretly， she wrote another letter， this time to Julian Fellowes， the screenwriter of Gosford Park and， later， creator of Downton Abbey， whom she had met once after he gave a talk at her boarding school. This time， her letter 4）hit the mark. “I said， ‘Mr. Fellowes， you’re the only person in this world I’ve ever met. I’ve been rejected from drama school， and I don’t know what to do！’ ” She pauses for dramatic effect. “And then he invited me to dinner.”

As Fellowes remembers it， he and his wife， Emma， were throwing “a little get-together for 5）aspirants and， as a 6）caprice， invited her. Emma got a real feeling about her， that she was not quite like anyone else.” What came next was a classic tale of right place， right time—Emma heard that Joe Wright was looking for fresh faces for his new Pride Prejudice and suggested that Mulligan audition. “I want to state that Emma didn’t get Carey the job； Carey got Carey that job，” Fellowes says. “I’m always a little 7）wary of us trying to 8）take credit for her unusualness； she was born unusual.”

After a string of relatively small TV parts， Mulligan landed her first major stage role： a 2008 Royal Court production of Chekhov’s The Seagull， as Nina， the 9）precocious young actress who would give anything to be a star.

Though Mulligan hadn’t yet had a breakout moment on camera， that changed in 2009， when she starred in Danish director Lone Scherfig’s small-scale， independent film An Education.

As it turned out， Mulligan’s face fueled a whirlwind of 10）Sundance praise and glowing reviews， with the phrase “the new Audrey Hepburn” tossed around so casually it ceased to have meaning. Other actresses in Mulligan’s position—sudden global superstar—might have rushed into the new fame with a blockbuster role； instead， Mulligan took her unexpected success as a sign that she should keep playing strong women： “The role has to be a female that has been written really well， or is strongly representing some aspect of femininity—otherwise， I’m not really interested in it.”And in the past five years， Mulligan has played loners and feminists， 11）beatniks and clones， sad 12）flappers and 13）sloppy New York burnouts.

In Stephen Daldry’s staging of Hare’s Skylight， she emits a different kind of energy.

Mulligan’s performance comes to a climax in the second act when she delivers a speech on the subject of education， an impassioned 14）aria about social inequality. On the night I saw the play， her 15）soliloquy was so moving， the theater burst into applause. According to Daldry， the audience has reacted this way every night since the play opened in London. “They just feel they’re watching somebody disarmingly open， disarmingly available and disarmingly truthful，” he says. “When she 16）gets worked up， they get worked up.”

Gathering her coat to leave for Skylight rehearsal， she mentions that her parents， at long last， have 17）come around to her acting career. Her mother now accompanies her on set and is the first “18）voracious reader” of any script Mulligan receives. “We have this running joke in my family about how they were right，” says Mulligan. “They say， ‘See， we told you that you were never going to make it.’ ” As she turns to leave she says， “They have all proverbially 19）eaten their hats.”

現(xiàn)在是清晨，但29歲的凱瑞·穆麗根已經(jīng)起床好幾個(gè)小時(shí)了。她不久前才剛從倫敦飛過(guò)來(lái)這邊參加大衛(wèi)·黑爾編寫的百老匯舞臺(tái)劇《天窗》，時(shí)差還沒(méi)調(diào)整過(guò)來(lái)。

穆麗根在倫敦中心的威斯敏斯特出生。穆麗根對(duì)表演的癡迷是受到了她母親的影響，她母親是一所威爾士大學(xué)的講師，名叫南諾，她經(jīng)常在星期六下午帶穆麗根去倫敦西區(qū)觀看舞臺(tái)劇。小穆麗根很快就迷上了舞臺(tái)劇——“我有一本巨大的冊(cè)子，收集了每一場(chǎng)我看過(guò)的表演的票根，”她說(shuō)道。一次百老匯之行讓穆麗根產(chǎn)生了當(dāng)演員的想法。當(dāng)時(shí)她14歲，和南諾一起飛去紐約看卡巴萊歌舞表演?！澳鞘侨绱说仄婷睿瑯O具感染力，讓人印象深刻，充滿活力，驚險(xiǎn)連連，對(duì)一個(gè)青少年來(lái)說(shuō)是個(gè)不小的震撼，”穆麗根說(shuō)道，輕輕地笑著?！拔易罱蛬寢層秩タ戳艘淮危啻无D(zhuǎn)過(guò)頭對(duì)我說(shuō)，‘真不敢想象，當(dāng)時(shí)我?guī)銇?lái)看這個(gè)表演！’但我記得看完那次表演走出門口時(shí)我在想——真酷，沒(méi)錯(cuò)，我將來(lái)要干這行。”

除了決定追隨內(nèi)心，穆麗根并不知道該怎么做才能成為一名演員。在上寄宿學(xué)校時(shí)，她參演過(guò)學(xué)校組織的話劇，但她并沒(méi)有接觸過(guò)社會(huì)上的劇團(tuán)。因此，和所有聰明的、渴望登上舞臺(tái)的英國(guó)年輕人一樣，她給肯尼斯·布拉納夫?qū)懥艘环庑拧?/p>

布拉納夫沒(méi)有回信。但是布拉納夫的助理回復(fù)了她?！皟?nèi)容大概是‘肯尼斯正忙著準(zhǔn)備一部戲，但他覺(jué)得如果你感覺(jué)沒(méi)其他能做的工作，那么你應(yīng)該當(dāng)一名演員?！蹦蔓惛X(jué)得受到了很大的鼓舞，決定申請(qǐng)戲劇學(xué)校。不幸的是，她的父母不同意。他們不想女兒當(dāng)一名演員。“我的父母對(duì)我愛護(hù)有加，他們覺(jué)得演員不是一份特別穩(wěn)定的工作。”她說(shuō)道?！八麄儧](méi)有明令禁止，但他們希望我上大學(xué)。我的想法跟他們不一樣。在舞臺(tái)上我一直有一種如魚得水的感覺(jué)。我喜歡那種感覺(jué)。我對(duì)其他事情失去了興趣。

所以穆麗根說(shuō)了謊。她偷偷地申請(qǐng)了三所戲劇學(xué)校，并跟父母說(shuō)自己去參加大學(xué)面試，但其實(shí)她是去試鏡?！斑@是我做過(guò)的最叛逆的事，叛逆的頂峰。”最后，每一所學(xué)校都拒絕了她的申請(qǐng)。

盡管穆麗根申請(qǐng)了傳統(tǒng)大學(xué)，她依然對(duì)她的演藝事業(yè)抱著堅(jiān)定不移的決心。她偷偷地寫了另一封信，這次是寄給了朱利安·費(fèi)羅斯，《高斯福莊園》的編劇，也是日后的《唐頓莊園》的創(chuàng)作人。他曾在穆麗根就讀的寄宿學(xué)校做過(guò)演講，那之后，穆麗根跟他見過(guò)一次面。這一次，她的信達(dá)到了目標(biāo)?！拔艺f(shuō)，‘費(fèi)羅斯先生，你是我在這個(gè)世界上唯一能遇到的人了。戲劇學(xué)校拒絕了我，我不知道該怎么做！’”她停頓了一下，為了增加戲劇效果?！叭缓笏?qǐng)我去吃晚餐?！?/p>

據(jù)費(fèi)羅斯回憶，他和他妻子艾瑪要開“一個(gè)小聚會(huì)，邀請(qǐng)一些想要在演藝圈一展抱負(fù)的人，所以就突發(fā)奇想地，邀請(qǐng)了她。艾瑪對(duì)她很有感覺(jué)，覺(jué)得她很獨(dú)特?！苯酉聛?lái)發(fā)生的事情就是經(jīng)典故事里天時(shí)地利人和的橋段——艾瑪聽說(shuō)喬·懷特正在為他的電影新版《傲慢與偏見》尋找新面孔，就推薦了穆麗根去參加試鏡?！拔蚁胝f(shuō)的是，為凱瑞取得這份工作的人不是艾瑪，而是凱瑞自己，”費(fèi)羅斯說(shuō)道。“我總是提醒自己不能把她的不凡歸功于我們自己；她生來(lái)就不凡。”

在演了一些電視劇的小角色后，穆麗根得到了她第一個(gè)重要的舞臺(tái)劇角色：2008年，出演由皇家宮廷劇院出品，改編自契訶夫的小說(shuō)《海鷗》里的人物，妮娜——為了成名能放棄一切的年輕早熟的女演員。

然而，穆麗根一直沒(méi)有打入電影圈，直到2009年，她在丹麥導(dǎo)演羅勒·莎菲的小成本獨(dú)立電影《愛的教育》中擔(dān)綱主演。

結(jié)果，穆麗根獲得了來(lái)自圣丹斯國(guó)際電影節(jié)的贊賞和好評(píng)，獲得了多到讓人麻木的“新一代奧黛麗·赫本”的稱贊。其他像穆麗根這樣突然成為了國(guó)際巨星的女演員也許會(huì)順勢(shì)出演大片角色。然而，穆麗根卻把她意料之外的成功視為一種提示——她應(yīng)該繼續(xù)出演堅(jiān)強(qiáng)女性一類的角色：“我所選的角色必須要是寫得很好的女性角色，或者要強(qiáng)烈突出女性特質(zhì)的某個(gè)方面——否則，我不會(huì)產(chǎn)生很大的興趣?！痹谶^(guò)去的五年間，她出演過(guò)性格孤僻的人、女性主義者、垮掉的一代、克隆人、悲傷的輕佻女郎以及不修邊幅、身心俱疲的紐約人。

在由斯蒂芬·戴德利執(zhí)導(dǎo)，黑爾編寫的話劇《天窗》中，她散發(fā)出另一種不同的活力。

在第二幕，穆麗根就教育這一主題發(fā)表的演說(shuō)中，她的表演發(fā)揮到淋漓盡致，那是一段關(guān)于社會(huì)不平等的激情獨(dú)白。在我觀看這出戲的那晚，她的獨(dú)白是那么感人，整個(gè)劇院都響起了熱烈的掌聲。據(jù)戴德利所說(shuō)，從這出戲在倫敦公演開始，每晚觀眾的反應(yīng)皆是如此?！八麄冎皇怯X(jué)得自己看到了有人毫不設(shè)防地敞開心扉、毫不設(shè)防的真實(shí)、毫不設(shè)防的坦率，”他說(shuō)道。“當(dāng)她激動(dòng)時(shí)，他們也跟著激動(dòng)?！?/p>

她拿起外套準(zhǔn)備離開去為《天窗》彩排，此時(shí)，她提到父母最后終于改變了對(duì)她演藝事業(yè)的看法?，F(xiàn)在穆麗根的母親都會(huì)在片場(chǎng)陪著她，還是她接到的所有劇本的第一個(gè)“狂熱讀者”?！拔覀兗伊鱾髦粋€(gè)笑話，關(guān)于他們的話有多正確，”穆麗根說(shuō)?！八麄冋f(shuō)，‘看，我們?cè)缇透阏f(shuō)過(guò)你永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)成功的。’”她邊轉(zhuǎn)身離開邊說(shuō)道，“他們都如諺語(yǔ)所說(shuō)的那樣把他們的帽子吃掉了?！?/p>