For Carey Mulligan,The dark side shines brightest

I started nervously eating fig newtons. I ate them obsessively while I rang people up.

Its funny, she continues,because they give you Champagne when youre nominated for an Oscar. And they give you this at the crack of dawn. I was totally sick to my stomach. Fig newtons and Champagne are not a good combination! Which,actually,is about the extent of the complaints she has to offer about movie stardom.

I love when people ask me how Im coping with everything thats happening to me, the 26-year-old Brit says. Coping is such an interesting word. Its so easy to cope when youre getting all of this great work.

Mulligan is currently shooting Baz Luhrmanns The Great Gatsby,starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby,Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan and Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway. She is also promoting Steve McQueens edgy new film Shame. The movie revolves around a rich New Yorker named Brandon (Michael Fassbender) who is secretly a sex addict. His secrets are endangered,however,when his troubled sister,Sissy (Mulligan),arrives unannounced for an extended stay. Its a very hard-hitting film about people who are dealing with addictions and compulsions, Mulligan says.

Sissys first appearance makes it clear that few punches will be pulled. Hearing noises and not realising that his sister has arrived,Brandon whips open the shower door to discover Sissy standing there,stark naked. I dont believe in doing nudity unless it fits a role. This isnt about looking perfect. This girl is a big mess, the actress says.

Her career has been on the fast track for the past couple of years,but she says that so far it hasnt had a great impact on her offscreen life. Few people ever come up to me, she says. I usually look so different on the streets than I do in films. I have whats known as a malleable faceI dont look that distinctive.

Born in London,Mulligan had her first taste of acting in a school production of Sweet Charity and her interest was piqued. When actor Julian Fellowes came to give a lecture at her school,she asked him for career advice. He introduced her to a casting directors assistantwhose company,fortuitously,was looking for an unknown to play Kitty Bennet in Pride & Prejudice (2005). Mulligan nabbed that role,and followed it up with a critically acclaimed performance in Bleak House. Since then shes been seen in An Education,The Greatest,Public Enemies,Brothers,Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and Never Let Me Go.

As for her personal life,the actress briefly dated Shia LaBeouf,her co-star in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,but prefers not to discuss such matters. I just tend to not talk about it, Mulligan says,because its not relevant to my work. I believe in discussing the work. The rest of it … I just tend not to get into it. Why would anyone even

be interested? CINDY PEARLMAN