Carey Mulligan used to find red carpets so "awful" that she would end up in the bathroom crying.

Carey Mulligan

Carey Mulligan

The 31-year-old actress has admitted when she was younger she couldn't understand the concept of having hundreds of cameras flashing in her face while promoting her work at movie premieres and she also found it daunting because of how actresses are judged on their appearance, and some criticism would reduce her to tears.

In an interview with So It Goes magazine, she admitted: "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."

However, the 'Suffragette' star - who has 16-month-old daughter Evelyn with her Mumford & Sons rocker husband Marcus Mumford - has learnt to take the surreal experience in her stride as she has grown older and she no longer sees red carpet appearances as "significant" to her life.

She added: "Then I got older and put it into perspective, and recognised that today's news is tomorrow's chip paper, and all of this stuff is just not very significant, ultimately."