Oscar-nominated actress rooting for Pacquiao

MULLIGAN supports Pacquiao. RUBEN V. NEPALES

LOS ANGELES—Oscar nominated actress Carey Mulligan, who boxes for fitness, is rooting for Manny Pacquiao in his “Fight of the Century” against Floyd Mayweather, Jr. this Saturday, May 2, in Las Vegas. The actress, currently starring in “Skylight” on Broadway, for which she just received a Tony Award nomination, rued that she will not be able to watch the bout.

“I will be on stage, so I won’t be able to watch it, but I will be rooting for Pacquiao because I love him,” said the British actress with a smile in a recent interview at the JW Marriott Essex House in New York. “I think he’s awesome because he’s a good guy. He’s an incredible fighter but he’s also a really good guy from what I understand and the work that he does. I am always rooting for the good guy.” 

Carey, as Bathsheba Everdene in Thomas Vinterberg’s adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s 1874 literary classic, “Far from the Madding Crowd,” has not one but three suitors: Gabriel Oak (Matthias Schoenaerts), a loyal sheep farmer; William Boldwood (Michael Sheen), a wealthy, timid bachelor, and Frank Troy (Tom Sturridge), a reckless sergeant.

Asked who she would have chosen if she had these three very different suitors in real life, Carey chuckled as she quickly replied, “I probably would have gone for the guy with the baby lamb (Gabriel) in the first 20 minutes of the film.”

Matthias, a Belgian actor, may break through as an international star with this film. Blessed with brooding good looks, Matthias as Gabriel finally gets to kiss Carey’s Bathsheba as the film ends.

Carey revealed that shooting the smooching scene was fraught with suspense. “We shot that last scene three times,” shared the Westminster, London native. “On the third time I did it, the horse reared and threw me off the front. I landed quite badly on my head. We carried on filming for another 20 minutes. Later, I fainted. Matthias thought I was acting, so he carried on.

“Then, I went to the hospital. I had a concussion. We came back and did it again a week after that. It was cloudy and didn’t look the same. So, we did it a third time. That last scene was actually three days cut together to make it work.”

Carey admitted that she did not see Matthias’ films, including “Bullhead” and “Rust and Bone” (with Marion Cotillard), where he earned critical praise.

“He takes the work very seriously, but he doesn’t take himself seriously at all, which is a great quality. He’s a great leading man because he sets the tone on the set in a really lovely way.”

On Bathsheba falling for Frank, the rakish soldier in a scarlet uniform, despite the love and faithfulness offered by Gabriel, Carey opined, “When you are young, you can make snap judgments, be spontaneous or impetuous. The difference with Frank Troy is that he is so unlike anyone she has ever met. She likes how unconventional he is.

Michael Sheen also shines as the prosperous and mature William.

Carey credited the director. “What Thomas did so well in the film is balance out those three stories. It’s not a foregone conclusion that she’s going to end up with him (Gabriel).

“I love that it starts in one place—then goes off in a completely different direction. That’s part of the reason I wanted to do the film, because it was a Victorian/British classic that started with a woman turning down a proposal of marriage, instead of going out and looking for it.”

Carey will be seen next with Meryl Streep and Helena Bonham Carter in “Suffragette,” a drama about the British women who fought for the right to vote in the early 20th century.

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