Carey Mulligan is an English actress known for her roles on stage and screen. She has received a BAFTA Award and a Critics' Choice Award as well as nominations for three Academy Awards, five Actor Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, two Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award.
She has received three nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performances as a teenage school girl in the coming-of-age drama film An Education (2009), an assault survivor bent on revenge in Promising Young Woman (2020), and Felicia Montealegre in the biographical romantic drama in Maestro (2023). She was Golden Globe-nominated for her roles for An Education (2009), Promising Young Woman (2020), She Said (2021) and Maestro (2023). She received the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress for Promising Young Woman (2020).
She rose to prominence after being nominated for the BAFTA Rising Star Award and winning the BAFTA Award for Best Actress for An Education in 2009. The following year, Mulligan won the BIFA for Best Actress in a British Independent Film for playing in the dystopian romantic Never Let Me Go, based on the 2005 novel of the same name by Kazuo Ishiguro. In 2011, she earned further acclaim for her supporting roles in Nicolas Winding Refn's action drama Drive and Steve McQueen's erotic drama Shame. Mulligan's performance as Daisy Buchanan in the 2013 film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's romantic drama The Great Gatsby earned her nomination for the AACTA Award for Best Actress.
On stage, Mulligan was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance in the Broadway revival of David Hare's Skylight (2015). She received Drama Desk Award nominations for her roles in the Anton Chekov revival The Seagull (2008), the Ingmar Bergman adaptation Through a Glass Darkly (2011), the David Hare revival Skylight (2015), and the Dennis Kelly play Girls & Boys (2019). For the later she was also nominated for the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress.
On television, she portrayed a haughty wife of a country club manager in the second season of the Netflix anthology series Beef (2025) for which she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. As a producer of the series she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series.
Major associations Academy Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 2010Best Actress An Education 2021 Promising Young Woman 2024Maestro
Actor Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 2010 Outstanding Female Actor in a Leading Role An Education Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture 2018 Mudbound 2021 Outstanding Female Actor in a Leading Role Promising Young Woman 2024 Maestro
BAFTA Awards Year Category Nominated work Result British Academy Film Awards2010 BAFTA Rising Star Award Best Actress in a Leading RoleAn Education 2012 Best Actress in a Supporting Role Drive 2023 She Said 2024 Best Actress in a Leading Role Maestro 2026 Best Actress in a Supporting Role The Ballad of Wallis Island
Critics' Choice Awards Year Category Nominated work Result Critics' Choice Movie Awards 2010 Best Actress An Education 2012 Best Supporting Actress Shame 2021 Best Actress Promising Young Woman 2024 Maestro
Emmy Awards Year Category Nominated work Result Primetime Emmy Awards 2026 Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series Beef Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
Golden Globe Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 2010 Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama An Education 2021 Promising Young Woman 2023 Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture She Said 2024 Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama Maestro
Tony Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 2015 Best Actress in a Play Skylight
Other theatre awards Organizations Year Category Project Result Drama Desk Awards 2008 Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play The Seagull 2012Outstanding Actress in a Play Through a Glass Darkly 2015 Skylight 2019 Outstanding Solo Performance Girls & Boys Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2018 Best Actress Girls & Boys
Miscellaneous awards Organizations Year Category Project Result AACTA Awards 2013 Best Lead Actress in a Film – Cinema The Great Gatsby 2020 Best International Lead Actress in a Film – Cinema Promising Young Woman 2023 Maestro British Independent Film Awards 2009Best Actress An Education 2010 Never Let Me Go 2011 Best Supporting Actress Shame 2015 Best Actress Suffragette Capri Hollywood International Film Festival 2023 Best Actress Maestro Empire Awards2009 Best ActressAn Education Best Newcomer 2011 Best Actress Drive European Film Awards 2021 European Actress Promising Young Woman Evening Standard British Film Awards 2009Best Actress An Education 2010 Never Let Me Go 2011 Shame 2017 Best Supporting Actress Mudbound Gotham Film Awards 2017 Special Jury Award – Ensemble Performance Gotham TV Awards 2026 Outstanding Lead Performance in a Limited Series Beef Hollywood Film Awards 2009 Breakthrough Actress of the Year An Education 2011 Supporting Actress Award Drive and Shame 2015 Actress Award Suffragette Independent Spirit Awards 2017 Robert Altman Award Mudbound 2018Best Female Lead Wildlife 2020 Promising Young Woman MTV Movie & TV Awards 2021 Best Performance in a Movie National Board of Review of Motion Pictures 2009 Best Actress An Education 2020 Promising Young Woman Palm Springs International Film Festival 2011 Breakthrough Performance AwardNever Let Me Go and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps 2021 International Star Award Promising Young Woman 2024 Maestro Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2009 Virtuosos Award An Education 2020 Cinema Vanguard Award Promising Young Woman Satellite Awards 2009 Best Actress – Motion Picture, Drama An Education 2011 Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture Shame 2015 Best Actress – Motion Picture, Drama Suffragette 2020 Promising Young Woman 2023 Maestro Saturn Awards 2010 Best Actress Never Let Me Go Teen Choice Awards 2013 Choice Movie Actress: Drama The Great Gatsby
Critics associations Organizations Year Category Project Result Alliance of Women Film Journalists2009 Best ActressAn Education Best Breakthrough Performance Best Depiction of Nudity, Sexuality or Seduction (shared with Peter Sarsgaard) 2011 Alliance of Women Film Journalists Shame 2020 Best ActressPromising Young Woman Bravest Performance Austin Film Critics Association 2020 Best ActressPromising Young Woman Chicago Film Critics Association 2009 Best ActressAn Education Most Promising Performer 2020 Best Actress Promising Young Woman Chicago Indie Critics 2023 Best Actress Maestro Columbus Film Critics Association 2023 Best Lead Performance Maestro Dallas–Fort Worth Critics Association 2009 Best Actress An Education 2011 Best Supporting Actress Shame 2015 Best Actress Suffragette 2020 Best Actress Promising Young Woman 2023 Best Actress Maestro Denver Film Critics Society 2023 Best Lead Performance Maestro Detroit Film Critics Society 2010 Best ActressNever Let Me Go 2011 Best Supporting ActressShame 2020 Best Actress Promising Young Woman Dublin Film Critics' Circle 2009 Best Actress An Education 2023 Best Actress Maestro Florida Film Critics Circle 2020 Best Actress Promising Young Woman Georgia Film Critics Association 2020 Best Actress Promising Young Woman 2023 Best Actress Maestro Hawaii Film Critics Society 2023 Best Actress Maestro Hollywood Creative Alliance 2023 Best Actress Maestro Hollywood Critics Association 2020 Best Actress Promising Young Woman Houston Film Critics Society 2009 Best Actress An Education 2020 Best Actress Promising Young Woman Indiana Film Journalists Association 2023 Best Actress Maestro IndieWire Critics Poll 2009 Best Actress An Education 2011 Best Supporting Actress Shame Las Vegas Film Critics Society 2023 Best Actress Maestro London Film Critics' Circle2009 British Actress of the YearAn Education Actress of the Year 2011British Actress of the Year Drive Shame 2015 Suffragette Far from the Madding Crowd 2023 Actress of the YearMaestro British/Irish Performer of the Year Saltburn Los Angeles Film Critics Association 2009 Best Actress An Education 2020 Best Actress Promising Young Woman Michigan Movie Critics Guild 2023 Best Actress Maestro Minnesota Film Critics Alliance 2023 Best Actress Maestro New York Film Critics Circle 2009 Best Actress An Education 2011 Best Supporting Actress Shame New York Film Critics Online 2020 Best Actress Promising Young Woman North Texas Film Critics Association 2022 Best Supporting Actress She Said Online Film Critics Society 2009 Best Actress An Education 2011 Best Supporting Actress Shame 2020 Best Actress Promising Young Woman San Diego Film Critics Society 2009Best Actress An Education 2010 Never Let Me Go 2011 Best Supporting Actress Shame 2018 Best Actress Wildlife 2020 Promising Young Woman St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association 2009 Best Actress An Education 2011 Best Scene Drive 2020 Best Actress Promising Young Woman 2022 Best Supporting Actress She Said Toronto Film Critics Association 2009 Best Actress An Education Utah Film Critics Association 2023 Best Actress Maestro Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association 2009 Best ActressAn Education Best Breakthrough Performance 2011 Best Supporting Actress Shame 2020 Best Actress Promising Young Woman
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