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EXCLUSIVE: Filmmaker Baz Luhrmann has found his Daisy Buchanan. He has officially given the starring role in The Great Gatsby to Carey Mulligan, the Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and Never Let Me Go star who’ll play the manipulative heroine when Luhrmann starts production on his adaptation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald literary classic.
Mulligan was on the reception line for The Fashion Council Awards in New York when she got the call on her cell phone from Luhrmann, just a few minutes ago. She burst into tears on the red carpet in front of Karl Lagerfield and Anna Wintour. This all occurred shortly after Luhrmann showed the audition footage to Sony Pictures Entertainment execs Amy Pascal and Doug Belgrad, who were impressed by Mulligan’s command of the character played in the 1974 film by Mia Farrow.
Mulligan was a late entrant to an elite list of actresses that Luhrmann met with while he conducted readings with Leonardo DiCaprio, who’ll play Jay Gatsby. Tobey Maguire is expected to play his friend, Nick Carraway, who narrates the tale. No word yet on who’ll play the other major roles, Daisy’s husband Tom, their social companion Jordan Baker, Tom’s mistress Myrtle Wilson and her gas station owner husband George.
Luhrmann delivered the message to Deadline, and gave me the above photo he took of Mulligan during rehearsals, when she was in Daisy Buchanan mode on November 2. “The results from the workshop process on The Great Gatsby have been very encouraging,” he told Deadline. “There are a few elements that I feel need to be resolved before I would categorically state that this is my next film. Regarding the role of Daisy Buchanan, I was privileged to explore the character with some of the world’s most talented actresses, each one bringing their own particular interpretation, all of which were legitimate and exciting. However, specific to this particular production of The Great Gatsby, I was thrilled to pick up the phone an hour ago to the young Oscar-nominated British actress Carey Mulligan and say to her: “Hello, Daisy Buchanan.”
The 25-year old actress was nominated for an Academy Award last year for her work in the Lone Scherfig-directed coming of age tale An Education.
It was a busy day for Luhrmann who spoke at the funeral of Dino De Laurentiis along with the likes of David Lynch and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Luhrmann became close with the charismatic producer when they tried to mount an epic version of Alexander the Great that was to star DiCaprio. The project halted when a rival film with Oliver Stone and Colin Farrel made it into production first. Luhrmann spoke at length over how moved he was that De Laurentiis made his own family such a part of his life despite his thriving producing career, something Luhrmann made sure to emulate as he carved his own path. Luhrmann wore a red tie, in keeping with the De Laurentiis family wish.
PHOTO CREDIT: Carey Mulligan photographed auditioning for the role of Daisy Buchanan. New York City, November 2, 2010. Photo: Baz Luhrmann. Copyright: Bazmark
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She’s Sarah Miles 2.0
But without even the thin dribble of sex appeal dear Sarah had in her prime. God. Where are the young volcanos who can act? Clearly they’re not being put forward.
Nah, no way. Would have been perfect for Jordan Baker, not so much for Daisy. Mia Farrow was miscast against Redford, and it looks like Baz is following the same mistake. Redford was too pretty beside Farrow, just like DiCaprio is going to be too pretty beside Mulligan. Then again, maybe it’s in his contract….
Oh yeah, exactly. She would have been perfect. She’s cute enough, and I bet she could have been sly enough.
But I don’t know if she’s beautiful enough to make an otherwise hard-headed bootlegger want to shape his entire life around hers. Like other posters have said, while I’d probably take the train out to Long Island for her, I don’t think I’d buy a mansion.
Keira Knightly? Another one with zero charisma who, IMHO, couldn’t act her way out of a paper bag. Her career is a mystery to me. I thought most people these days, given the amount of video they absorb, could ACT…at least somewhat. Well she blows THAT supposition out of the water! Like a human black hole, the energy drains out of every scene. Depressing to watch. But bewildering too.
Great choice. She’s definitely got the chops to pull this off, and judging by that picture, Luhrmann will also be able to make her look just the right way.
let’s jst hope luhrmann doesn’t turn this into a musical.
Hee’s the thing. Gatsby is a wonderful book, but terrible source material for a movie because most of its power and charm comes from the narrative, not from action or even character. It was a colossal failure with Redford and Farrow and will be again. The only difference is that there are about 180 new ways to hype it.
Yup–if ever a book was “devil’s candy,” GATSBY is it. It looks cinematic on the surface–the wild parties, the clothes, the doomed romance. But it works so well on the page because it is essentially a dream of the 1920′s that every reader fills in with their own dreams/imaginings. When movie makers try to do the filling in, what they come up with is too pedestrian or can’t live up to how readers perceive the novel.
That was a great comment Deering . I obviously agree with you as i recall being bored to tears by the Redford version. I don`t think that this film will succeed in a big way but i know that it won`t be Carey Mulligan`s fault. She is always better than the role she is given. She is very intelligent and will be a great Daisy. ….. Who knows? This film might work . I recall everyone laughing at the news of another Titanic film and that worked out pretty well. .
Luhrmann is wack. This whole public spiel breaks all kinds of audition/casting protocols, and seems oddly disrespectful of Mulligan — giving us all the gory details of how she broke down in tears in front of a bunch of famous people, how Luhrmann found “his’ Daisy Buchanan, even releasing photographs from the audition process, which is something that virtually NEVER happens for very good reasons.
The whole affair is oddly gendered and reflective of Hollywood’s attitude towards its ingenues; Mulligan is Luhrmann’s professional peer, she’s not his date to the prom. Did we hear about Tobey Maguire or Leo breaking down in tears when they got the call?
And then we read on, and Luhrmann comes out and says he might not even be making the movie!!
WTF are we reading about all this for then? What director calls up trade news sites and spills all kinds of gory details about the audition and casting process, including releasing photos of the actors, then turns around and plays all coy by saying he’s not even sure he’ll make the movie?
“Mulligan is Luhrmann’s professional peer, she’s not his date to the prom. Did we hear about Tobey Maguire or Leo breaking down in tears when they got the call?”
Very well said! Prom date, indeed!
Hollywood sexism at its best. Directors gone wild.
Luhrmann making a public spectacle of the auditioning is unconscionable. He and Michael Bay would make quite a team.
Is it any wonder that 30-year old actresses who’ve made it in Hollywood seem like bitches?
Can you blame them?
Imagine what they’ve had to endure in private-much less public- from the likes of a Luhrmann & Bay.
Funny thing is the Daisy Buchanan of the novel wouldn’t tolerate sexist nonsense from any of these punk directors.
But Carey Mulligan will.
Luhrmann’s got his prom date!
Very, very well put. “Directors gone wild” is a perfect succinct summation of the spectacle Luhrmann has put on here.
Isla Fisher would be a fun Myrtle and foil to Carey/Daisy. Michelle Williams could be good too, but I’d prefer Isla.
worst casting ever!
Thank GAWD!!! The previous Gatsby movie is one of the worst wastes of talent, time and film. I often wonder why those excellent actors were directed to ham it up so badly. Anyway, it’s a great story and I look forward to seeing done respectfully.
yayayayayayay!!
I love her work. This is my favorite book too.
To say I am looking forward to this is a mild understatement…..
She looks stunning in the photo, and has the range and talent to pull off the complexity of Daisy.
I am so excited.
Thanks, Baz. With this lame casting, another adaptation of my favorite book will be pointless. Leo DiCaprio, try though he might, still looks and sounds as if he came out of an arcade in 1989. He has never been convincing as an adult (“The Aviator” anyone?) And no man would go through all the machinations Gatsby does for the likes of Mulligan.
Sorry, it just won’t work.
Why not have grownups play these roles?
I used to feel this way about him but after his turns in The Departed and the massively underrated Blood Diamond I changed my mind. You should check Blood Diamond if you haven’t.
I’ve seen all of his films, unfortunately. I know some say he’s grown but watching him “act” in recent films like “Inception” and “Shutter Island” only confirmed my feelings about his lack of range.
Where are the intelligent, mature actors this movie needs?
Check out “Revolutionary Road” – this may change your mind about DiCaprio’s range
I think this is the worst choice ever! I saw Wall Street 2 and was absolutely underwhelmed by Mulligan. She’s not particularly pretty, not that great of an actress; she’s absolutely un-outstanding in every way. With all the gorgeous young actresses out there, why not pick one of them? Daisy was a gorgeous manipulator, not some plain Jane, like Ms. Mulligan is. Obviously this will be like Moulin Rouge, another one of Luhrman’s disasters. I had high hopes for this film until the casting has been announced. DeCaprio is just not Gatsby either, not good looking.
When Paramount did this thing they put a $6 price on the tickets. Some scribe wrote, “Yeah! $3 to get in, $3 to get out.” That journalist was 86′d from the lot for 6 months if I remember correctly.
Carey Mulligan?!?! WTF kind of casting is that? She’s supposed to be the bombshell flapper DiCaprio obsessively spends years becoming a fabulously wealthy bootlegger and crafting a whole new persona to win over? What a joke. She’s not nearly attractive or worldly enough for the role.
I smell a bomb. The Marty Scorsese-Vincent Chase remake would have been better than this garbage.
Umm… bombshell flapper? What version of The Great Gatsby did you read?
Daisy the “bombshell flapper” ??? What version of The Great Gatsby did you read? She is the farthest thing from flapper in the text.
You must have “read” the same imaginary version Baz did. Let’s see: Daisy was based on Zelda and Zelda was…a flapper. Read the book again – or should I say, for the first time?
Do we know if the main cast is closed? I mean Carey and Leo for sure, but Tobey is confirmed? And when is production set to start?
Horrible, horrible casting.
Emily Blunt would be infinitely better than the dour Ms. Mulligan.
I wil pass on this adaptation. From the director to the cast, sounds like a dud to me.
Great… A working class Gatsby, with a woman who looks like an Irish washerwoman as Daisy Buchanan.
How bout a black Daisy? There are more elegant black actresses and it would be SO PC.
Nice choice! Carey Mulligan is an English actress and done so far so good with her previous movies and even won her an award. Carey and Leonardo will be good in The Great Gatsby.
Actually, I think she is 29 in the book. There is some line about 29 being the perfect age for a woman…
That’s Nick Carraway talking about himself.
After the house, we were to see the grounds and the swimming-pool, and the hydroplane and the mid-summer flowers — but outside Gatsby’s window it began to rain again, so we stood in a row looking at the corrugated surface of the Sound.
“If it wasn’t for the mist we could see your home across the bay,” said Gatsby. “You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock.”
Daisy put her arm through his abruptly, but he seemed absorbed in what he had just said. Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever. Compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy it had seemed very near to her, almost touching her. It had seemed as close as a star to the moon. Now it was again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one.
I just finished the book a couple of weeks ago, really excited to see how the film turns out! Leonardo, Tobey, and Carey seem like fine choices, should be exciting to see how they fit the roles!
Carey would be phenominal. The only, and most annoying problem, I have with this adaptation (and this happens to be one of my most favorite books ever, so I want them to get this right!) is the casting of Leonardo DiCaprio. I would have preffered to have seen Brad Pitt, not only because he looks like Robert Redford, but also because he has the acting ability to play Jay , a character that oozes sex appeal but is sentitive and romantic at the same time. The only way Leo will get this right is if he gets in shape (he’s been looking a bit chubby as of late), because other than that there is no disputing he has the acting chops to pull this off. Jay wears exquisite suits, the best of the best, and I would like to see Leo slim down a bit to play the part.
Yeah, that’s a wonderful idea: base the casting on who most resembles the stars from the 1974 flop. One of the biggest criticisms of the ’74 adaptation was that Redford was terribly miscast as Gatsby. If you’d read the book, you’d know Gatsby is supposed to awkward and aloof, not suave and urbane. Brad Pitt, aside from being too old, would be a horrible pick for Gatsby – about as outrageously bad as Mulligan as Daisy.
(assuming that Robert Redford was good casting for Gatsby)
Jordan Baker should be played by Julia Stiles, and the husband Tom Buchanan should be played by Guy Pearce. Myrtle’s husband should be played by Ciaran Hinds, (altho it’s baz so it will probably go to John C reilly )
and Myrtle should be played by Renee Zellweger.
Julia Stiles? Renee Zellweger? Are you absolutely serious?
Reading the comments here, and the so-called actor recommendations, I’m convinced this audience deserves Toby McGuire narrating, deserves Leo playing Jay Gatsby, deserves Stiles playing anything in this flick.
If that is what you folks imagine when reading The Great Gatsby or watching the ’74 masterpiece, then I feel sorry you and lament the abrupt downfall of American culture.
What ever became of you?
Kind of think Jake Gyllenhaal would be good for Nick, but I trust Baz. Mulligan is a good choice. Tobey is consistent and I don’t get the Leo haters–like at all.