Beef Season 2: 11 Carey Mulligan Roles You’d Probably Forgotten She Once Played

Carey Mulligan has returned to the small screen in season two of the Netflix drama Beef.

In the new episodes of Beef, Carey plays a middle-class woman whose life begins to unravel when she and her husband, played by Oscar Isaac, become embroiled in a bitter feud with a young couple who work for them at a country club.

Perhaps best known for her period drama roles, the British star has racked up a varied list of credits over the last two decades, landing Oscar nominations for her work in An Education, Promising Young Woman and Maestro.

However, there are plenty of roles from her CV that might have completely slipped your mind, too.

As rave reviews continue to roll in for Carey’s performance in Beef, here are 11 roles you may have forgotten she played long before landing her part in the hit Netflix show…

Bleak House

In the same year that Carey made her film debut opposite Keira Knightley in Pride & Prejudice, she starred in another classic literary adaptation.

For her first TV role, Carey played Ada Clare in the 2005 BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Bleak House, which also featured acting legends like Charles Dance, Timothy West and Gillian Anderson.

It’s generally considered one of the best adaptations of the book and was nominated for numerous awards, including a Bafta, Golden Globe and 10 Emmys.

The Amazing Mrs Pritchard

In 2006, Carey Mulligan landed the role of Emily Pritchard in The Amazing Mrs Pritchard, alongside Jane Horrocks and Steven Mackintosh. 

She portrayed the grown-up daughter of Jane’s character, fictitious prime minister Rosamund “Ros” Jane Pritchard, a woman who found herself the new leader of the UK despite having no previous political experience. 

The BBC drama was written by Happy Valley’s Sally Wainwright, and saw Carey’s Emily struggling with her family’s new-found fame and, in an act of rebellion, projecting naked pictures of herself onto the Houses Of Parliament.

And When Did You Last See Your Father?

Carey’s second full-length film role came when she appeared in the David Nicholls-penned film And When Did You Last See Your Father?.

Based on poet and author Blake Morrison’s memoir of the same name, Carey had a small role in the film, which depicted a troubled father-son relationship.

Carey’s character, Rachel, was a girl the central character tried to woo after meeting her on holiday, not realising she was actually more interested in his father.

She starred in the film alongside Matthew Beard as a young Blake Morrison, with Jim Broadbent portraying his dad.

Waking The Dead

Many A-listers had small roles in the BBC’s Waking The Dead before making it big, including Ralph Ineson, Holliday Grainger, Sean Harris and Michelle Dockery.

In 2007, Carey appeared in two episodes of the crime drama, playing a young nun connected to the investigation of a murdered teenage boy.

For her short story arc, Carey appeared with series regulars Trevor Eve and Sue Johnston.

Northanger Abbey

Tackling yet another classic literary adaptation, Carey played Isabella Thorpe to Felicity Jones’ Catherine Morland in 2007’s Northanger Abbey, based on Jane Austen’s book of the same name.

Almost 20 years on from its release, the TV movie is still considered one of the best adaptations of Jane Austen’s final novel, which follows high society in 1800s Bath.

In particular, Carey was praised for her performance as Isabella, whose more manipulative side is unearthed over the course of the story.

My Boy Jack

Adapted from David Haig’s play of the same name, and also starring Daniel Radcliffe, My Boy Jack told the story of The Jungle Book author Rudyard Kipling’s grief for his son, John, who died in the First World War.

Carey had a minor role as John’s sister, Elsie, who was adamantly opposed to him going to war. My Boy Jack also starred Kim Cattrall as the matriarch of the Kipling family, with writer and actor David Haig taking on the role of the celebrated writer.

The Hollywood Reporter called Carey’s performance “outstanding, her eyes pools of inarticulate sadness, her beauty inescapably reminding the family of their loss”.

The Greatest

In 2009, the same year Carey landed her major breakthrough and first Oscar nomination for An Education, she appeared in The Greatest alongside Pierce Brosnan, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Susan Sarandon. 

The poignant drama starred Carey as Rose, a young woman who finds out she is pregnant after her boyfriend dies in a car crash, and goes on to help his family overcome their grief and put their lives back together.

Public Enemies

Carey had a minor role in the 2009 crime flick Public Enemies, portraying Carol Slayman, a coat-check girl who went on to become the girlfriend of the notorious gangster John Dillinger, played in the movie by Johnny Depp.

Speaking on The Graham Norton Show, Carey opened up about one romantic scene with the Edward Scissorhands actor, which was so awkward it ended up on the cutting room floor.

“I had to kiss him several times. It was 16 times, but it was cut out of the film because I looked so uncomfortable,” she recalled. “I was kissing Johnny Depp and I got really nervous.”

The film also featured Christian Bale as FBI agent Melvin Purvis alongside Marion Cotillard, Jason Clarke and Stephen Graham as 1930s gangsters.

Collateral

More recently, Carey returned to TV in the 2018 BBC drama Collateral.

Written by acclaimed playwright David Hare, the four-episode miniseries followed an investigation into the shooting of a pizza delivery rider in London, which spiralled into a conspiracy about people traffickers and the state’s lack of care about refugee mistreatment.

Co-starring Billie Piper, John Simm and Nick Mohammed, Collateral was the last TV role Carey took on until appearing in season two of Beef.

“I was also excited to do something contemporary, having done a fair amount of period dramas. I wanted to play a character who is alive right now, not 100 years ago,” Carey previously told the BBC.

Wildlife

Co-starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano’s directorial debut Wildfire depicted a family whose father is suddenly made unemployed, and is then forced to take a low-paying job fighting a forest fire.

Set in the 1960s, Carey’s character Jeanette is seen fighting to lead her family through the hard times they’ve fallen on, while seeking employment for herself and struggling with feelings of loneliness and abandonment by her husband. 

The film was almost universally praised, with Refinery 29 calling it Carey’s “best performance yet” and Vulture calling it “a major moment” for the actor.

Wildlife is generally regarded as one of her most overlooked performances, with many claiming she should have earned an Oscar nomination for the role.

Spaceman

In 2024, Carey starred in science fiction drama Spaceman, playing the pregnant wife of Adam Sandler’s Czech cosmonaut Jakub Procházka.

Carey was actually expecting her youngest daughter during filming, with the newborn’s voice even being used in some scenes. 

Asked by Collider about having a baby while making Spaceman, she explained that her child’s voice actually appears in the movie “because I did ADR at my house when my baby was tiny and she screamed”.

The surreal sci-fi drama film landed on Netflix with next to no fanfare and mixed reviews, so you’ll be forgiven for having not heard of this Carey Mulligan project, even if it was only from a couple of years ago.

Season two of Beef is currently streaming on Netflix.