"Every year really is just the most extraordinary blessing" - Carey Mulligan says she 'feels great' about turning 40

Carey Mulligan turned 40 in May and 'feels great' about it, having marked the milestone with a month of birthday celebrations.

When asked how she felt about leaving her 30s behind, in an interview with Anita Rani on BBC Woman's Hour, without a second thought, she replied, "I feel great."

Despite a woman's 40s often bringing the struggles of discovering what perimenopause is really like and feeling lonely for the first time, Carey is determined to embrace the new era with positivity.

She explained, "We're so, sort of, programmed to fear it and to feel negatively.

"Or even in the way that, when you look at what's going on in the world, and you even look around you and your life, and you see what people go through with health issues, [you] just think 'gosh, every year really is just the most extraordinary blessing.'

"So I'm sort of riding high," she added.

Seeing in what she calls the 'big one', Carey's 40th was marked by an extended celebration. Not just a birthday, she made it a whole 'birthday month' - and why not?

She told Anita, "I'm also making it a birthday month, because you get to do that for big ones, right? You don't have to just have a day. It's a festival, really; my year of 40."

Carey marked the start of her 4th decade on 28th May 2025, which just so happened to be the premiere date of her latest film project, The Ballad of Wallis Island, The movie is a charming comedy about a reclusive lottery winner who invites his favourite musicians to perform at his home. So, Carey recalls how she spent her actual birthday at work.

She said, "It was great. I had time with my family, and then I spent most of the day with Tim and Tom (the writers of The Ballad of Wallis Island) talking about our film. And then we had our premiere, and then I went for dinner."

She started filming for the project just 10 weeks after giving birth to her third child in September 2023, going on to bring her new baby, believed to be a daughter, to set so she could breastfeed.

It was 'extraordinary' for her to be able to do, Carey, who also shares eight-year-old Evelyn and five-year-old Wilfred with Marcus Mumford, admitted.

"It's not the case across the board, at all. That has not really shifted, and it does really limit female crew, female actors, and the ability to participate in work."