Actress Carey Mulligan Uses the Kardashians as Inspiration in The Great Gatsby
April 17, 2013 by Elle Dee
Kim Kardashian’s paramours, new and old—we’re looking at you, Ray J—aren’t the only artists who have used the reality star as a muse. Actress Carey Mulligan recently revealed that she too turned to Kardashian, as well as her sisters, as a source of inspiration.
Mulligan, who stars as Daisy Buchanan in Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, appears on the May cover of Vogue in character. During her interview, Carey explained that she truly immersed herself in the character. Based on the author’s wife, Zelda, and his young lover, Ginevra King, Daisy is an extremely privileged young woman.
“‘I seem always curiously interested in myself, and it’s so much fun to stand off and look at me…’ That’s a direct Zelda quote,” the actress tells Vogue as she recounts her experience reading Zelda Fitzgerald’s biography. “It’s that kind of feeling,” she continues. “I’m-so-little-and-there’s-nothing-to-me, watch-me-have-nothing-to-me.”
But becoming Daisy was not easy feat for Mulligan. The Oscar-nominated actress is unquestionably low key. Though married to Marcus Mumford of Mumford and Sons, Carey is not interested in the trappings of fame, nor does she wish to share the intimate details of her personal life with the world.
So how did she embody a woman who relishes in the trappings of fame? Mulligan looked to more modern-day socialites for help. “[Daisy] feels like she’s living in a movie of her own life,” the actress explains. “She’s constantly on show, performing all the time. Nothing bad can happen in a dream. You can’t die in a dream. She’s in her own TV show. She’s like a Kardashian.”
Indeed, Mulligan might be on to something with her comparison. One thing that makes the character so memorable is that for all of her shallowness and conceit, she also possesses something that is undeniably captivating. And the same could be argued for the Kardashian sisters in all of their reality TV glory. Though many people are quick to dismiss them, there is something fascinating about Kourtney, Kim, and Khloe. How else do you explain audiences coming back for more Keeping Up With the Kardashians season after season?
