Rising Star: Carey Mulligan

I was going back and forth in my mind as to whether Carey Mulligan would qualify as being a Rising Star. Miss Mulligan is already a star in her own right with an Oscar nomination under her belt and a huge fan following, but one cannot deny the way her star status is on a continuous rise. She is definitely deserving of her own Rising Post, because there is much more to this talented British actress than her role of Jenny in “An Education” and being Shia LaBeouf’s current squeeze.

Carey Hannah Mulligan was born on the 25th of May 1985 in Greater London. She spent the first eight years of her life living in Germany before she returned with her parents to her home land. Carey first developed her love of acting at school at six years old when she appeared in “The King And I” in the chorus. It wasn’t until she was 20 that her dreams really started to take flight, when she got the role of Kitty Bennett the 2005 film, “Pride And Prejudice” alongside Keira Knightly and Judi Dench. This breakthrough role was the start of her film and television career.

She appeared in various British television shows and specials such as “Bleak House”, “Doctor Who” and “Northanger Abbey”. However during these times, she always kept her love of the stage and performed in productions such as “The Seagull”, in which she received a great deal of critical acclaim. From here, her film career took off and she appeared in “When Did You Last See Your Father?” with Jim Broadbent and Colin Firth and “The Greatest” with Pierce Brosnan, Susan Surandon and Aaron Johnson. However, it is by “An Education” that skyrocketed Mulligan into the stardom. For playing the role of eager sixteen year old schoolgirl Jenny, she received a BAFTA win and Golden Globe and Oscar nominations. The way in which she portrayed Jenny was done with complete believability and grace and she won many hearts in her performance.


Carey Mulligan entered Hollywood in 2009 with her roles in “Public Enemies” and “Brothers” and is continuing this new relationship in her current role as Winnie in “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps”. Her next role is in “Never Let Me Go”, in which she once again co-stars with Keira Knightly. Mulligan is also rumoured to be involved in the remake of “My Fair Lady” and the American remake of “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”.

Carey Mulligan already has an amazing career and no doubt that are greater things to come for her. Her purity and grace make it almost impossible to dislike her and we wish her all the best of luck in the future.

Rising Star: Aaron Johnson

It’s been awhile since Movie Critical has done a Rising Star post, so here it is now! This time around we have chosen Aaron Johnson as our Rising Star. Despite his young age, this UK actor is no stranger to show business. He has been in several productions over the years, but with his starring role in the critically acclaimed “Nowhere Boy” and the release of the highly anticipated “Kick-Ass”, his star is definitely on the rise.

Aaron Johnson was born on the 13th of June 1990 in High Wycombe in England. He started acting at the age of 6, when he started attending the Jackie Palmer Stage School in the same town as his birth. In his time here, he studied acting, dance and acrobatics. Johnson appeared in several productions both on stage and on film.
Johnson’s big break was playing the heart throb, Robbie in “Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging”. From here, he gathered quite a fan club. However, it was in the biopic, “Nowhere Boy” that the world became familiar with Aaron Johnson and his superb acting abilities. Sam Taylor Wood chose to cast Johnson in the lead role of the film as the young John Lennon. Such a role came with high expectations, and Johnson fulfilled this expectation by creating the perfect interpretation of one of the greatest musicians of our time. This film also marked a significant event in Johnson’s and Sam Taylor Wood’s life. The two became a couple and were engaged not long before the release of the film. The couple are also expecting their first child in the latter half of 2010. This relationship has been highly featured in gossip columns because of the 22 year age difference between the two. However, the age difference is not as startling in 2010 as it would have been in the past, and the couple are said to be very happy and do not let the age come between them.


“Kick-Ass” is set to be released in Australia on the 8th of April and 16th of April in the United States. Johnson plays the lead role of Dave Lizewski, whose secret persona is super-hero Kick-Ass. The film has already attracted loads of media attention and has already collected favourable reviews in its advanced previews. Johnson’s next project is in the Hideo Nakata directed film, “Chatroom”.

Aaron Johnson is fast impressing everyone in the film world with his versatile and intriguing roles. There is no doubt that this younger performer has a great deal ahead of him and we look forward to seeing a great deal more of him in the future!

Rising Stars

Sam Worthington

For Movie Critical’s first Rising Star, we have chosen Sam Worthington. Worthington shot to international stardom with his role as Marcus Wright in “Terminator Salvation” and plays the lead of Jake Sully in the highly anticipated “Avatar”. He is quickly becoming one of the most recognised action stars in film today, but his roots don't lie in this film genre, as many Australian film fans will know.

Worthington was born in Perth, Australia on the 2nd of August 1976. He did not always aspire to be an actor, but his life changed when he accompanied a friend to his audition at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA). NIDA is known for being extremely hard to win a place in, so they must've seen something very special in Worthington as he was accepted, while his friend wasn't. After starting his career on stage, he was soon being cast in roles in such Australian TV shows as "Water Rats" and "Blue Heelers".

His first film role was in "Bootmen", a film in which he has admitted to not learning much about tap dancing during, even though that is what the film is about. This was followed by roles in "Dirty Deeds", "Gettin' Square" and "Thunderstruck". However, in 2004,it was his role in the multi AFI award winning film "Somersault" that won him critical acclaim and secured his place in amongst Australia's acting elite. He won the Australian Film Institute's award for Best Actor in A Leading Role and from here the sky was the limit.Before entering the USA market, he also played the lead in the 2006 film version of "Macbeth" and also appeared in the giant crocodile film,"Rogue".













Since then, Worthington stole the show in "Terminator Salvation" and hasn't looked back. Besides "Avatar", he is also starring in the upcoming "Clash Of The Titans" which is to be released in early 2010. Worthington, for the time being, has seemed to find his niche in action film, but from he previous roles it is clear to see that he will not have a problem fitting into other film genres in the future.