British actress Carey Mulligan said Monday that networking and schmoozing at film festivals just isn’t her scene, after the world premiere of Mark Romanek’s film "Never Let Me Go" in Toronto.
The English period film, adapted from the celebrated novel by Kazuo Ishiguro about love and sacrifice at an English boarding school, stars Mulligan whose previous roles include appearances in "Pride & Prejudice," "Public Enemies" and "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps."
"I really am in bed at 9 pm," said Mulligan, 25, whose costars in "Never Let Me Go," include Andrew Garfield ("The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus"), Keira Knightley ("Atonement") and veteran actress Charlotte Rampling.
"The parties are nice if you’re with your crowd. It’s nice to celebrate the film together," she said.
"We went to a party after our screening (in Toronto) and sat around together. (But) I don’t really enjoy the networking thing.
"I think if I’m going to meet someone it should be for a job where I can audition and act. I don’t think my personality is going to impress anybody to give me a job.
"There’s a million really famous (people) here and I’m probably the least of them, and I’m not the most interesting person in the room," Mulligan added.
Several budding filmmakers and actors have said they hope to network at the festival’s lavish parties.
People do sometimes use the occasion to say they will send you a script, commented producer Allon Reich. "But I don’t think you’ll really necessarily connect at a party with acting talent that you might put in your next movie," he said.
The film’s director Mark Romanek said he looks forward to going to film festivals to reconnect with old friends.
"I get to run into filmmaker friends and colleagues that are so busy all the time, that to actually be in the same room is something of a miracle," he said.
"I get to spend a half hour chatting with Danny Boyle ("127 Hours") and Darren Aronofsky ("Black Swan"). These guys are friends of mine and we never get to see each other."
