British actress Carey Mulligan has fought off competition from Scarlett Johansson and Blake Lively to land the role of Leonardo DiCaprio's lover in Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of The Great Gatsby.
The Titanic star has been cast as Jay Gatsby in the movie adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's literary masterpiece and rumours were rife over which actress would sign on as love interest Daisy Buchanan.
Gossip Girl beauty Lively was linked to the role after she was spotted enjoying a business dinner with DiCaprio and Luhrmann in New York City earlier this month, while movie insiders claimed Johansson and Michelle Williams were also in the running.
Luhrmann has now confirmed An Education star Mulligan will portray Buchanan after impressing the director with her audition.
He tells Deadline.com, "Regarding the role of Daisy Buchanan, I was privileged to explore the character with some of the world's most talented actresses, each one bringing their own particular interpretation, all of which were legitimate and exciting.
"However, specific to this particular production of The Great Gatsby, I was thrilled to pick up the phone an hour ago to the young Oscar-nominated British actress Carey Mulligan and say to her: 'Hello, Daisy Buchanan.'
Filmmaker Baz Luhrmann is desperate to team Beyonce Knowles and Hugh Jackman for a new movie musical after directing the stars for a medley of showtunes at the Oscars.
Knowles and Jackman whizzed through renditions of Lady Marmalade, All That Jazz and Somewhere Over The Rainbow in a performance medley last month helmed by the Moulin Rouge! filmmaker.
The singer has already enjoyed crossover success with her roles as Etta James in 2008 biopic Cadillac Records and 2006 movie musical Dreamgirls.
And Luhrmann insists Knowles is destined to follow in the footsteps of Hollywood's greatest leading ladies.
He tells Vogue magazine of his hopes to re-team the pair, saying: "One can only pray. My mind is racing already... I'm sure that there is a dramatic cinematic life for her. It's been a long time since we've seen that kind of performer, like Barbra Streisand and Diana Ross, on the screen."
Jackman admits he'd be up for the challenge: "Just watching how she processes everything, she's so fast... I just found myself going, 'Oh, my God, I want to do movies with this girl. I want to do a movie musical!'"
The X-Men actor insists Knowles has the star quality to make it big in Hollywood too: "I have no doubt she'll win an Oscar one day. I can see the ambition in her to want to do that, to be in movies and really knock something out of the park. She's got it. Whatever it is, she's got it."
