Carey Mulligan thanks Julian Fellowes for acting start

Carey Mulligan owes much of her acting success to Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes because he gave her the encouragement to chase her drama dreams.

The actress reveals the writer came to her school and chatted to students about the making of period drama Gosford Park and she later wrote to him for advice.

She reveals, "He was the only actor I'd ever met. I wrote to him and asked him if he had any advice. He and his wife amazingly took me out to dinner with a bunch of other people who had written similar letters and they said to go to Riverside Studios in London for their drama club.

"They introduced me to an assistant of Jina Jay, who cast Pride and Prejudice, who put me on tape to play one of the younger sisters. They were looking for people who hadn't acted before, so I got the part."