The An Education star was offered the role of Catherine in the 2013 film, but felt she had to say no.

She tells WSJ magazine, "I'd just done four jobs in a row; I was about to collapse. But I watched it and thought, 'Dammit, that was brilliant'. I won't let that happen again."

The role eventually went to Rooney Mara.

Meanwhile, Mulligan also has regrets about a role she took on - Winnie Gekko in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.

She adds, "The role has to be a female that has been written really well, or is strongly representing some aspect of femininity, otherwise I'm not really interested in it... It was a lesson to me that if I don't have enough to get ahold of, it doesn't work for me."