Carey Mulligan Battles the Backlash Against Her "Unrealistic" Character in the Film Wildlife

[@CCEkeke]

This is a great conversation/interview. Carey handled the rude dudebro at the Wildlife Q&A very well and maturely. Women do not have a limited set of behaviors. They aren't just two ends of the emotional spectrum.

[@rudyl4341]

Which interview was that? I'm so curious.

[@vittoriacolona]

The woman is the epitome of class. A woman's woman.

[@Nazaba09]

I’m a disabled screenwriter but I’m very extroverted and so I write my characters that way. In a contest, the note I got back was ‘unrealistic depiction of a person with a disability’. EXCUSE YOU? We’re disabled, not dead. We’re not in the closet with a paper bag over our head.

[@noora8179]

her voice is so soothing to me. and this actually seems like a really mature discourse, i might check the movie out

[@JessicaFreda62]

Noora Z Yes I love her voice too! A big fan of hers & the characters she plays. :)

[@PlaceForAnEcho]

Noora Z been saying it for years-love her voice! I will watch anything she’s in because her voice is lovely. She’s wonderfully intelligent and she cannot play a role where she’s dumb. That’s like asking Vanessa Redgrave to play an idiot. Can’t happen in my opinion.

[@BenMoranFilms]

Carey Mulligan's performance in 'Wildlife' was unbelievable and it is always an education to listen to her talk about the representation of women in media. I am so excited for the oncoming wave of complex characters like 'Jeanette'!

[@benrujo]

eyyyyy "an education" nice. I think that rude audience member just had too much Pride and Prejudice and he should just Drive away in Shame.

[@ty_teynium]

I almost had no idea what you were talking about until seeing the words drive and shame and thought wait she’s in those movies!

[@woolypear]

Unbelievable as in not believable or as in amazing? Asking because the criticism was that it was “unrealistic”

[@Jordishness]

“The wife to the great man” is pretty much the definition of the generic female role. So glad this is being challenged.

[@TheKeaneKat]

@Sam Armstrong LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[@TheKeaneKat]

@Sam Armstrong thank you i needed that

[@hd-xc2lz]

Three decades ago this was fair criticism. But unless you have stuck to a strict diet of Hollywood blockbusters, you know damn well that Indy films since the '90s have offered as many rich roles for women as men.

[@KingMinosxxvi]

What! How is this a new role. Its 2/3rds of carey mulligans filmography for starters

[@KingMinosxxvi]

What Genre? It's has been "A" generic role. Think about the term generic....What does it mean? Now use it properly and then learn how to think......oh well done ......you win the prize...What prize is that you say... a life outside the box you made in your head....way to go!

[@CharmingNewSociety]

Yet I bet half of the dudes complaining about Carey's character rooted for Walter White to the very end.

[@Luvie1980]

Or Jordan belfort

[@deliman7203]

Or any Marvel/DC character. It's called acting. She deserves credit if people react this way, cause that means she has depicted a person that's not likable.

[@ave789]

Thing is Walter White's written so fantastically that even when he acts in such an abhorrent way, you still can't help but root for him. Never seen her character before, but I'm assuming it's a very different context.

[@Figs3]

It's a bit off topic, but Speaking about Walter White or antagonistic main characters. I've noticed two types of people either someone who binge watched the show or watched it from the beginning when it wasn't as popular. The people that watched it from the first episode on TV like myself remember waiting the full year, and almost downplaying some of the awful things he did. Maybe forgetting just how bad it was, almost disassociating it. But the people that binged it HATED Walter White because they had the whole story at once so they could have the full recollection of it.

[@ViaticalTree]

Figs3 I binge watched the entire series and I found myself rooting for Walt most of the time. I'm pretty sure that was Vince Gilligan's intent. It's fun to root for the villain sometimes.

[@136minutes]

“I can’t get mad at Victorian men.”

[@Demention94]

Her character was very nuanced and complex. Brilliant acting. The critic is a FOOL.

[@iAmTheSquidThing]

This film never gave me the impression that it was presenting any character as a hero. They were all humans with virtues and flaws, just like we are in reality.

[@seanmatthewking]

What I saw was two people who weren’t ready to be parents and a kid who was dealing with it.

[@leomessiful]

I watched Wildlife because of Gyllenhaal but was mesmerized with Mulligans performance.She was absolutely great in that movie.

[@hipnhappenin]

Holy hell I’ve said this years before, I’m sure, but I could listen to her talk all day. Her voice and accent just exude maturity and wisdom.

[@tinaismyself]

Im obsessed with carey mulligan. She’s not a celebrity but a real actor. She’s so beautiful but still looks intelligent. She can transform her whole look with every character she plays. Shes amazing

[@paulaw4215]

Carey Mulligan is such a great talent. So intelligent and articulate. Love her.

[@jerome620]

Critics: "Women wouldn't be that outrageous" Some of my ex-girlfriends: "Hold my beer!"

[@tomknight5727]

She's awesome! I remember seeing her in Doctor Who years back and then I saw Wildlife and I thought I recognised her. Great actor!

[@ieatgremlins]

Oh my god! I didn’t know Carey had done these interviews, she is so fantastic!

[@---rk9vl]

do you know what movie they're talking about?

[@sophiarose7581]

Billie Davis wildlife

[@Sunil_GK]

Omg! This actress is absolutely beautiful and her voice is so soothing. Great acting in 'Wildfire'.

[@USER-cn6uo]

Love her! Sat 3 rows back on Broadway to see her and Bill Nighy in Skylight. Just brilliant. For me, a dream come true because both are favorite actors of mine.

[@bringiton5282]

Lucky you ! I envy you, just seeing both of them argue and Carey cooking a spaghetti bolognese on stage must have been worth the ticket price !

[@USER-cn6uo]

It was a bucket list moment for sure. When they were arguing, you could see the spot coming out of Bill’s mouth. 😂. It was something I won’t forget!

[@nerdfatha]

Seeing this after watching Promising Young Woman feels very appropriate.

[@svensvenkill]

As an Englishman who has seen many of her Hollywood movies, until now I genuinely didn't know she was English. Bloody hell! She's an unbelievably amazing actor.

[@JadeMercedesFraser.]

Same!!! I was just scrolling the comments to see how many other people thought she was American, I am English and I’m so shocked!!

[@willaw5368]

What's the book she mentioned at 2:21? (She said it too quickly and I'm not a native speaker.)

[@willaw5368]

@@QueenMean7 Thank you! :)

[@Erika-313]

(Sorry if it's weird to be responding 3 months later, but I wanted to expand on Jane's answer). Technically it's spelled Far From the Madding Crowd. It was written by Thomas Hardy (and published in 1874, hence the mention of Victorian men), who is also the author of Tess of the d'Urbervilles and The Return of the Native. Carey Mulligan actually starred in a movie adaptation of Far From the Madding Crowd back in 2015, which is presumably why she brought it up.

[@themagictheatre2965]

@@Erika-313 The reason she rushes over that part is that she is referring back to an earlier part of the interview where she discussed being in that adaptation already, outside of this clip.

[@gpower9572]

@@Erika-313 That correction was well needed. The earlier comment I found quite maddening.

[@ty_teynium]

This is not her problem. It’s that dudes issues making this film and her role completely out of context. I didn’t even see the movie and I’m being disturbed just from that guys questionable questioning. But she did handle it maturely.

[@lucanreynolds947]

Suck on them.

[@Bamgeutcutiepie]

she is just the greatest. LOVE HER.

[@katarinagratton4992]

I've seen Carey in few movies by now, I think she's brilliant.

[@65g4]

You should see her in a few more then 😏

[@senoritaaurora5123]

I'm shocked people would make such criticisms. Humans are human. We behave in a myriads of ways, men and women alike.

[@saattlebrutaz]

It's fake antagonism invented to justify empathetic reasoning for woke points. There's no debate here. Just make up a straw man argument and say 'people are saying it' and then make your prepared woke counterclaim.

[@halinagrey478]

@@saattlebrutaz wOkE

[@kennethbryant5819]

Yeah, her character was uncomfortable to watch because she was super realistic. What world are these people living in? People of both genders do what she did all the fucking time. Age, kids, time spent in marriage etc doesn't matter to some people. Priorities just change for some.

[@nicholasdickens2801]

That critic was a complete doofus. Loved how he was rightly torn apart in the most diplomatic way. Human beings are wonderful, brilliant, insane, infuriating creatures. Any character you write, is not really a rounded person. It’s an ideal, a set of ideals, or attitudes. A kind of idealised attitude given form. If you write a character like a real person you’d think it was unrealistic and was very inconsistent or continuity would be bad. Welcome to the world

[@giantjungle]

What book does she mention at 2:23? I can not make out what she said. Please help?

[@esj88]

I believe she said Far from the Madding Crowd

[@Termiduck]

She's awesome

[@StephanieTips]

OMG I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR HER TO BE INTERVIEWED BY SAM FOR SO LONG OMG I'M DEAD BYE

[@samanthanyarko9166]

Great interview!

[@FLdancer00]

I was today years old when I learned that Carey Mulligan isn't American.

[@user-ck9lm6xi1o]

Lmfao, that was the cutest way to say what you wanted to say. I'm going to steal that.

[@ilovepotatoesforever9818]

Her table manners gave away that she was upper class English

[@lorencappelson6475]

oh really??? I originally saw her in films like "Pride and Prejudice" and "An Education" in which she plays very, very British characters (plus like a 2007 episode of Doctor Who - also very British!) But her American accent is pretty impeccable, and she's just an amazing, immersive actress that it's easy to believe she's exactly like any part she plays.

[@FLdancer00]

@@lorencappelson6475 I first saw her in Shame. And the next few things I saw her in she definitely had an american accent. Really had no idea it was fake, she's really good. Can't wait for Promising Young Lady.

[@meshbis]

Is there a longer version?

[@theoffcamerashow]

Carey's full episode premieres tonight (11/26/18) on DirecTv, or you can pre-order her episode on our website (www.offcamera.com), or you can listen to the podcast coming out this Thursday (11/29/18).

[@meshbis]

@@theoffcamerashow thank you for replying!

[@PlaceForAnEcho]

Love her acting choices and her voice. Her voice never has upspeak and it’s lovely.

[@NibberKSmooth]

Carey is Elegance and intelligence personified.

[@dominiczerafa8990]

What book was panned by critics?

[@bleepbloop9123]

Love this. I think the realistic female characters are in television, haven't really seen one in movies

[@MsDidi38]

I didn't find Jeanette a bad character at all, not unlikable, any more or less than the male character in the film, whose behaviours are just as questionable. It was a great film about real life and relationships.

[@rubydutton-roberts4351]

Does anyone know if there is a video of the Q & A they are talking about where this guy insults her?

[@samsong24]

I was wondering the same thing!

[@katjau_]

Wildlife was amazing specifically because of her performance

[@christinalynn9405]

God I love her voice.

[@sovietninja6865]

The critics who critique like this most likely do not know anything about acting.

[@MightiestArm]

Can someone link that other interview they're referring to I can't seem to find it

[@themagictheatre2965]

It was some random Q&A. Movies that are doing the publicity rounds do dozens and dozens of them, and the vast majority don't end up on youtube.

[@kobaltkween]

To be very honest, I think this is the heart of the abortion issue. We have this myth about motherhood that if women care enough and are good enough people, they'll automatically just figure out how to be an incredible mother, 24/7, regardless of circumstance. That no amount of hardship or trauma will impact her children if she just loves them enough, because she'll find a way to _never_ let any of it touch her kids. I don't think I've ever seen a movie of how a highly problematic mother still enriched her children's lives, but I can think of several movies like that about fathers. No, I take it back. Mask, with Cher, almost 30 years ago now. I can't think of one before it, or one since.

[@JeffFreemanPresents]

I feel like the final season of House of Cards spoke to this issue. Claire is, well… talk about unlikable! And messy! She ends up fairly crazy just like Lady Macbeth (which I think called back to the beginning of the series beautifully. People who loved when Frank pulled the shenanigans he did, hated her for the same things and called her character unrealistic.

[@alexisclements3167]

Yep, the exact same reason they hate Hillary but love Trump. She's a deplorable criminal but somehow he isn't?!

[@KingMinosxxvi]

That's incorrect ... The last season of House of Cards is unrealistic for many reasons....It's all fucking over the place and doesn't make allot of sense...The first four season are meticulously crafted and make perfect sense. Thats why the last season unrealistic. One would could argue that the last season purposely makes these leaps to make some kind of non-sequiteous polemical feminist point.

[@KingMinosxxvi]

@@alexisclements3167 Most people Hate Hillary and Trump!

[@JeffFreemanPresents]

@@KingMinosxxvi What is incorrect, my opinion? I'm not sure that's even possible.

[@KingMinosxxvi]

@@JeffFreemanPresents I am not a universal arbiter of what is correct. But yes I am saying you are wrong. I can say your opinion is wrong and it is certainly possible that some or all of your opinion is wrong. Though you wouldn't have thought so at least when you wrote it.....That's why its um like your opinion. OF COURSE YOUR OPINON CAN BE WRONG!

[@nadda698]

This is the same backlash Skyler White got, and people only started liking her when she fell in line.

[@seanmatthewking]

This barely qualifies as backlash. They’re talking about one person.

[@naheem1845]

Mulligan’s performance in Wildlife perfectly induces anxiety for the reasons that she asserts. I felt uncomfortable on the character’s behalf and the whole film presents a very timely portrait of marital claustrophobia skilfully projected back into the Romantic Elia Kazan moral aesthetic that American audiences are perfectly accustomed to when it comes to the lure of the Badlands. The Place Beyond the Pines is doing the same thing. But credit is due to a great dramatic actress who needs to be recognised more for her elegant imagination on screen.

[@seanmatthewking]

What is this, film class? Who is supposed to get these references?

[@weshasawi]

Anyone has a link for that Q&A they’re talking about?!

[@CharmingNewSociety]

I haven't watched it yet, but it might be the Build Series video. There's always a Q&A segment and I know they shoot those in New York.

[@hupotasso4705]

Here’s a link to the second Q&A she mentioned where an audience member asked about the alleged sexual tension between Jeanette and her son, citing the bathroom scene: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r3PGh5esaLynnbs

[@weshasawi]

Hupo Tasso thaaanks

[@lifeafter79]

In a time where more women than ever are not “falling in line” this is revolutionary? Or even slightly evolutionary.

[@aoifekc89]

tried to like twice 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@lumpyfishgravy]

I was strongly reminded of Richard E Grant's "Wah-Wah".

[@steveswensen3116]

I have NO context on this issue, but how absolutely ignorant & sadly pathetic that anyone could possibly have that take on her performance, let alone this work of art. I found & saw it on a long flight to Asia years ago, & the ending broke me in the most beautiful way; realized I was watching my own parents & I. Bravo to everyone that created this treasure.

[@ElenainMovieland]

SO WELL SAID

[@delusionsofgrandeur1330]

She kind of looks like Elizabeth Perkins here

[@BallJuiceOfZeus]

To all the sexist comments It’s not easy being a woman in the west. Treated equally when it benefits them and like a “lady” when it benefits them is pretty tough, especially when you don’t know which one on a minute to minute basis

[@rebeccanascimento8234]

how on eart can you be so dumb. Its simple. If they take advantage of the good aspects of sexism they are sexist themselves. Just because they are women doesnt mean theyre feminists, so why would you generalize all of them for the opinios of just the ones youve met? What shes saying is that her character as who she was, a person with its emotion and character regarless of sex, but people like you cant seem to see that. Its the whole generalization. Women are more than half of the worlds population dumbass, they should be portraited like so and treated as indivuduals. Urgh

[@pathologicaldoubt]

I stopped reading after “it’s not easy being a woman in the west”... there’s just nothing salient that comes after such an ignorant statement.

[@BallJuiceOfZeus]

Nice novel, when does it come out?

[@rebeccanascimento8234]

@@BallJuiceOfZeus when you grow a fucking brain. Take a walk and drop that poison ,troll

[@philippeh3904]

It’s easier being a woman in the West compared to anywhere else. Still room for a lot of improvement, but far safer.

[@paxwallacejazz]

Is hers what's called a received upper crust accent? Anyway works for me.

[@helendavies1326]

I would csll it a neutral accent. There's very little regional accent but it's not upperclass. Not to say she isn't upperclass. She is VERY classy

[@hannahstreisand]

@@helendavies1326 not sure where you're from ... but she is definitely on the posh end of the spectrum!

[@al201103]

You're mixing up a couple of terms. Received Pronunciation is the "standard" British accent demanded by the BBC in years gone by and still taught to drama students. Upper crust would effectively be posh, or moneyed. Carey sounds like well spoken North London to me. Not as clinically perfect as RP (which is a good thing) and not quite as "born into money" as posh, but the accent of someone who knows how words are supposed to be pronounced.

[@analuisajohnson2083]

Thank you for sharing, this is very interesting Unbelievable. Talk about assumptions. It is completely fascinating the assumptions that people come up with. People share in my channel. I am working on my third video of this year and a documentary for the next year. People are obsess with exterior validation. I must be a rare person and yes, there is this Victorianism in some men, not all. I go to the Oscars and to me that is not such a big deal and almost like well, why would that be so that unusual. I will not advertise my progress. I don’t need so much validation. It is a fetich at this point what is going on with exterior validation.

[@ChadMichaelSimon]

The level of ugliness in opinions and viciousness of trolling has reached what I hope is a peak of tolerance. I say that, but each new offense prepares us to be less affected by the next. This is across all platforms and for any media, too - movies, celebrities, games, politics, art. What 2016-2020 revealed to me is that this isn't new, it just seemed quieter before. I'm nearly over the hump of being shocked by it every time now and rather come to expect it. Expecting it doesn't mean condoning it, of course, but it does help me to avoid disappointment in my fellow humans when they behave horribly. Now I'm clicking over to your channel. :-)

[@80077655]

I think what was unsettling about her character isn't that she left her husband but that she left her child with a husband who had not demonstrated much stability or reliability,

[@80077655]

@Glenna Smith So perhaps a pox on both their houses.

[@deaddropholiday]

You know, I'm always hearing about this or that group of social miscreants who, for whatever reason, are hot under the collar with movie X, director Y or actor/actress Z. And yet time and time again it turns out that the story emanated FROM the media. You could easily be forgiven for thinking it is trying to turn one part of society against another. Or am I just paranoid? Or not paranoid enough - LOL?

[@malinhessedahl]

❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@BurtDavis]

why get mad when male insecurity rears it's head. It's not her problem, it's theirs.

[@gpower9572]

The parents were a mess. The way she said to the kid that she wasn't being intimate with his father was uber creepy. The acting was fine all around and the kid was good. He had an innocent look like a deer and he was just taking everything in. He was the wildlife and when the forest fire comes the wildlife has to move on which is what the kid did. I thought it was really fine directing from Paul Dano too and was a good movie. One feminist reviewer said Carey's character was more sympathetic than Jake's. I guess people will see through the mire of their own preconceptions. The whole point of the messy parents is that you root for the kid and I certainly did.

[@seanmatthewking]

Of course a feminist would 😅 Neither were very sympathetic. Their situations were, but they both made very sloppy decisions in those decisions. The creepy things you’re talking about are the boundary issues she mentioned. Like when she left her son in the car to fuck that guy. Zero regard for what she’s subjecting him to. And the father temporarily abandoned them and risked his life because of his pride, so I’m not siding with him. For me the movie was about the kid most.

[@65g4]

I thought she was great in Wildlife

[@analuisajohnson2083]

If attacking me makes you feel good ahead. I am not attacking you.

[@jamespearce9973]

It should rightly be challenged. It’s just that’s it’s being removed completely.

[@al201103]

Do you mean the irate man's opinion?

[@frankenviews4069]

its only unrealistic if the only woman you've ever met is your mother.

[@Wednesdaywoe1975]

Lol.

[@jayrockhammer]

Why is her British accent so sophisticated sounding. It’s not forced and very organic and soft

[@ilovepotatoesforever9818]

Her table manners gave away that she was upper class English

[@satchelyork]

she is so lovely man

[@sjt4225]

I love Carey

[@LarryKent-x3f]

About 50%, of all marriages end in divorce. WILDLIFE is about a divorce that happened because of the husband's financial abandonment of his wife and Son... 💐Carey Mulligan 🎥, plays a character that gets financially abandoned by her husband when he joins a firefighting crew that works far away from where his wife and son live. He sends no money 💰. How is she supposed to pay the rent? How can she buy new back to school clothes for her Son ??? It's not her fault, She is the wife, and a husband should support financially the marriage, no matter where his job takes him. The good news is, 75% of divorced people eventually have a 2nd marriage. It's very likely that if a sequel were ever made of WILDFIRE 🎥, Carey's character will reappear with new husband.

[@benisturning30]

There is never context given.

[@achouxo]

SHES BRITISH???

[@contrnsmagnificndjoobngtaint]

why is she talking in a british accent?!

[@michaelorozco9761]

I just don't believe that, I think that those roles died out in the 70's … I think people just need to pull it out there back sides

[@andrewbrendan1579]

Good comment: "I can't get mad at Victorian men". "Far the From the Madding Crowd" and it's unconventional heroine are the creation of a Victorian man.

[@hyperchord]

My wife absolutely sees herself as a wife of a great man. I try to tell her that there's more to her life if she wants it, and I'm sure part of her has surpressed goals she might have for her life. But I have too. Its part of life. So the wife of the great man may indeed be a tired role, but these women exist and they are happy and fulfilled.

[@al201103]

"So the wife of the great man may indeed be a tired role, but these women exist and they are happy and fulfilled. " Going to pick this one apart a little, while ignoring what seems to be a humblebrag at the start!! First, the issue is not so much that it's a tired role (although it kind of is) but it's that over the course of cinema's history this been the main role available to actresses. There has been a very limited selection of roles on offer, with far too many of them viewing women from a men's point of view or having them exist solely to support the male lead. Of course there are exceptions but given that men and women in the real world have so many possible facets and attributes and emotional leanings and flaws and talents....we are so very diverse, shouldn't the roles in films also reflect this (for both genders) so that audiences have something inspiring, challenging, thought-provoking to witness? So yeah, that's the thing with that. These women exist - absolutely they do. However, they are not the only version of a woman in real life, and most importantly they should not be almost the only positive role model visible on screen. They are happy and fulfilled - some are, some are not, some aren't but pretend they are, some have convinced themselves that they are but actually there are suppressed issues, some COULD be but feel that something else is expected of them....you get the idea. The real thrust of this whole aspect of the conversation is that for Film to fulfill its potential within society, we need to have a myriad of characters and life-choices representing all the different versions we can be. Sorry, I really wrote a book here! It comes from passion for film and for people, not from a ridiculous issue with your amiable comment :)

[@잠깐만여]

짧은 머리가 더 잘 어울리는 배우군요.

[@Benito_Cognito]

5

[@lynnturman8157]

Yeah, it can't be people don't like it cause it's a bad movie. It has to be cause women are oppressed.

[@Nighthawk-m9u]

Why is she wearing a four-man tent ?

[@seanmatthewking]

Why aren’t you?

[@taka-taktak]

Carey's performance was fabulous in this movie. Jeanette and Jerry both were awful parents but as characters they were fine. I don't think a character has to be likable to be a good character.