Carey Mulligan has slammed the lack of strong roles for women in the film industry.

Carey Mulligan

Carey Mulligan

The 32-year-old actress has said that she enjoys sinking her teeth into "interesting and complicated" roles, but has hit out at the lack of "fully rounded" female characters being written for film and television, which she believes contributes to a lack of "opportunity" for actresses.

Speaking at the premiere for her BBC Two and Netflix co-production 'Collateral', she said: "I think for the most of female actresses I know it's just about going where the better writing is. Films have tended to provide a lot for men in terms of great leading roles and not so much for women. I think it's been led by the writing and the opportunities particularly for women.

"I just want to play the most interesting, complicated real person and interesting complicated real people in film are really, really rare. I think essentially following great writing, trying to play real people and not play the girlfriend, the wife. I've done that a lot and it's not fun and this is the opportunity to play a fully rounded, flawed interesting person."

It comes after the 'Great Gatsby' actress previously admitted to having felt "belittled" in Hollywood because of her gender, and said she often has to "fight" to make her voice heard when discussing scripts with film executives.

She said: "I have felt belittled and ... kind of lesser-than. I've definitely experienced sexism in terms of how I've been treated. When I've tried to assert my opinion on scripts, for example, I feel I've had to fight a bit harder to get my voice heard."

The 'Suffragette' star - who has two-year-old daughter Evelyn and a four-month-old baby whose name and gender have not been revealed with her husband Marcus Mumford - also revealed previously that she used to find the scrutiny of red carpet events so "awful" that she would end up in the bathroom crying, because she couldn't handle having her appearance judged.

She said: "I think it's ultimately a tool to promote the work that you're proud of.

"At the beginning, I'd end up in tears in the bathroom at some point during a day of photos and press. I would do red carpets and be a wreck by the end; I found it awful and weird, standing there in my outfits with my body being judged and my appearance and make-up.

"It's a f***ing weird, bizarre thing to have 200 people screaming at you taking a photo."


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