Carey Mulligan calls out sexist Promising Young Woman review

Carey Mulligan has spoken out against a review insinuating she “wasn’t hot enough” for her latest role and it should have gone to Margot Robbie.

Respected entertainment industry publication Variety has publicly apologised after actress Carey Mulligan called out a review of her new film Promising Young Woman which suggested she wasn’t the right fit to play the movie’s femme fatale lead.

Freelance critic Dennis Harvey claimed in the otherwise positive review that the film’s producer, Australian actress Margot Robbie, would have been a better fit for the role, and said Mulligan looked like she was in “bad drag” playing Cassie, who turns the tables during late-night encounters with various men to seek vengeance for the sexual assault of her best friend in the acclaimed new black comedy.

Carey Mulligan in Promising Young Woman.

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In an interview with The New York Times last month, Mulligan “winced” as she revealed she’d read the withering review of her performance.

“It felt like it was basically saying that I wasn’t hot enough to pull off this kind of ruse,” she told the Times, confessing she could still recite passages from the review from memory.

“It drove me so crazy. I was like, ‘Really? For this film, you’re going to write something that is so transparent? Now? In 2020?’ I just couldn’t believe it.”

Neither, it would seem, could those working in newsroom at Variety – who publicly stated they “agree with Mulligan”.

The review now comes with a rare stipulation from Variety, in bold at the top of the page: “Variety sincerely apologises to Carey Mulligan and regrets the insensitive language and insinuation in our review of Promising Young Woman that minimised her daring performance.”

Mulligan said the review ‘drove her so crazy’. Picture: AFP

The reviewer said Margot Robbie would have been a better fit for the role. Picture: Getty

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During a recent in-depth interview with fellow actor Zendaya published by Variety, Mulligan went into more detail about calling out the very outlet she was now being interviewed for.

“I feel it’s important that criticism is constructive. I think it’s important that we are looking at the right things when it comes to work, and we’re looking at the art and we’re looking at the performance.

“And I don’t think that goes to the appearance of the actor or your personal preference for what an actor does or doesn’t look like – which it felt that that article did. Which for me felt disappointing, because obviously the film is tackling issues around our perceptions and our preconceived ideas about people,” she said.

Mulligan is scoring rave reviews for her role as Cassandra in Promising Young Woman. Picture: Merie Weismiller Wallace/Courtesy of Focus Features

Mulligan admitted it had been “nerve-racking to rock the boat with a big publication”.

“But at the same time it feels like, you’ve got to stand up for these things,” she said. “Otherwise, it continues and then you’re essentially part of it. So I was really sort of surprised and thrilled and happy to have received an apology. I kind of found it moving, in a way – to draw a line and know that had an impact.”

Mulligan is garnering Oscar buzz for her starring role in the film, having already taken out Best Actress gongs at various Film Critics Association awards in recent weeks.