Mulligan recounts her own financial crisis

MANILA, Philippines - The talented and radiant Carey Mulligan plays Winnie, the daughter of the notorious Gordon Gekko in Oliver Stone’s powerful new drama, Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps.  Mulligan’s Winnie Gekko may be the daughter of the infamous Gordon Gekko (played by Michael Douglas), who epitomized ’80s greed and decadence in Wall Street, but she is nothing like him. In fact, she is the antitheses of her brilliant but corrupt father and has been estranged from him for years.

Mulligan expounds on the conflict she’s in and how her character copes being crammed by her father and fiancé.

What are your views on the original Wall Street?

“I saw it when I was 12. It was made the year I was born so I can’t say that I saw it when it came out (laughs). I watched it many times when I got the job and I loved it. I thought Michael Douglas was fierce and I thought Charlie Sheen was awesome. I loved Martin Sheen in it, too. I think that this film has the same kind of punch as the original. It is really exciting.” 

Can you say something about what it was like in 2008 for you when the crash hit?  

“I can’t honestly say that it had a huge impact on my life. I certainly saw things getting more expensive. My flat lost a lot of its value. I bought a flat a couple of years ago, in London. Values were rising and rising at the time and then suddenly it was not a good time to sell. So I have that flat now and will keep it until the value rises and it becomes worth what I paid for it in the first place.   I can’t say that the crash affected me on a massive scale and I didn’t know a huge amount about finance at all before this movie.”

Finally, people have been raving about your work recently and comparing you to Audrey Hepburn. How do you react to those comments and that kind of praise? 

“Obviously it’s exciting, you know? It’s not something I can think about very much really, but it is flattering. I find it so hard to watch myself and even harder to understand why people respond the way they do. I haven’t processed any of that stuff yet really. I’ve just been flying about, doing my work. It is all bizarre. It’s very strange, but also fantastic.”

Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps opens Sept. 29 in theaters from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.