Carey Mulligan made headlines for refusing to watch Wicked with her husband, Marcus Mumford, and their three kids at first.
The 39-year-old actress wanted to see the Jon M. Chu adaptation of the hit musical fantasy film all by herself to figure out if her children would find it boring or scary. Carey and Marcus, the lead singer of Mumford & Sons, have three children together: Evelyn, nine; Wilfred, seven; and a baby daughter born in 2023, whose name and gender they have kept private.
Speaking on the Off Menu podcast with Ed Gamble and James Acaster, Carey explained her reasoning. “I went to Wicked on my own, and Marcus took the children because I wanted to experience it without my children,” she said. “I don’t want to be sitting there thinking, like, is this scary, or is this boring to them?” Carey was clearly “very excited” about the film and wanted to enjoy it without worrying about her kids’ reactions.
The musical, which tells the untold story of the Witches of Oz, stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda, the Good Witch of the North. Carey admitted she “loved” the movie, but instead of taking all the kids at once, she made sure to bring them separately so she could keep things manageable. “I then took them separately to see it, to be fair. But I wanted the first time because I was very excited about Wicked, and I loved it,” she added.
The actress also gave a glimpse into her family life with some adorable anecdotes about their unique food nicknames. When comedian Ed asked if she had any weird family nicknames, Carey revealed that because one of her children can’t say “sausages” properly, they call them “ooze ooze.” She laughed and said, “It’s where all the nicknames come from. They just can’t say it, so they make up their own things.”
Carey and Marcus welcomed their youngest daughter in 2023. At the Variety Power of Women Los Angeles gala in November 2023, Carey called her baby a “10 out of 10 so far” and said, “Oh, she’s great. Great. Good baby, 10 out of 10 so far. We’ll see how long that lasts.”
She also shared a sweet moment about fellow actress Emily Blunt, who has two children, Hazel, 11, and Violet, eight, with husband John Krasinski. Carey said Emily “stole” her baby for a good 20 minutes during a visit, and Carey was “very happy” about it. “She stole my baby for a good 20 minutes, and I was very happy with that,” she joked.
From watching Wicked alone with her friends to letting each child see it separately and even creating funny food nicknames, Carey Mulligan shows a real, relatable side to celebrity parenting. And honestly, taking yourself to see a movie first just to enjoy it without distractions? That’s a move all parents will understand.
