Carey Mulligan hated by drama teachers

Carey Mulligan is hoping teachers at one of London's most prestigious drama schools are aware of her movie success - because they insisted she'd never make it as an actress and should consider a career as a children's TV presenter.

The Shame star was heartbroken when she landed her dream audition at the Drama Center London and was urged to give up acting.

She recalls, "I was a drama geek, obsessed with acting from a really young age. I just wanted to be in musicals and I wanted my parents to send me to a full on drama school, kind of like Fame, when I was 12 and they stopped me.

"I applied to drama schools instead of universities and got rejected from every one. Drama Center London told me to be a children's TV show presenter! Auditioning for drama school is just horrendous."

But Mulligan accepts she could have chosen a better audition piece: "I did Psychosis 448, a monologue about someone about to commit suicide, as my audition speech, so there's this incredibly well-adjusted, happy person coming from boarding school and I'm miming slitting my wrists on stage.

"They were like, 'Go home! Or at least experience something other than boarding school.' So that's what I did."

Ironically, the actress is now receiving rave reviews for her performance as Michael Fassbender's suicidal sister in Shame.