Carey Mulligan 'Doing 'Seagull' on the wing with Peter Sarsgaard'

A very recent article from NY Daily News about Carey Mulligan's upcoming U.S. Broadway debut of The Seagull...


On film, Carey Mulligan has played plenty of sisters, from Keira Knightley's younger sib in "Pride & Prejudice" to Daniel Radcliffe's older one in "My Boy Jack."



Recently, the British actress has been carving out another niche: Peter Sarsgaard's mistreated plaything.


Beginning Tuesday, the actors can be seen on stage in Anton Chekhov's "The Seagull."

Mulligan plays the fragile Nina and Sarsgaard is Trigorin, the hotshot writer who seduces her.

It's not the first complicated relationship for these offstage friends. Earlier this year, they filmed the 1960s drama "An Education," in which she's a teenager and he's the older playboy who tempts her.

Mulligan, 23, reprises her role in the Chekhov classic, which comes to Broadway nearly two years after its run at the Royal Court Theater in London. Much of the cast is intact, including star Kristin Scott Thomas.

Mulligan had a hint that Sarsgaard was being considered for the New York production before he did. An interestingly timed phone call from director Ian Rickson was the source. "Ian rang me and asked, 'What do you think about Peter Sarsgaard for Trigorin?' I was actually sitting in a car on the way to set with Peter. I was like, 'Yes, that would be amazing.' It took a while for that all to work out, but I told Peter. I'm really bad at keeping secrets."

She doesn't hold back praise for Scott Thomas, who plays the overbearing Arkadina. "She behaves so appallingly at times, but she makes you feel so much you're drawn to her."

"The Seagull" opens Oct. 1 2 at the Walter Kerr Theatre.

Related "The Seagull" articles:

• Broadway's The Seagull Changes Opening Night to October 2 Broadway.com
• Broadway's Seagull Moves Opening to October 2 TheaterMania.com