Carey Mulligan feared pub fight would wreck her film dreams

Carey Mulligan feared her acting dreams would be wrecked after a pub fight - she was just about to quit her job at an English bar when all hell broke lose.

The Great Gatsby star spent nine months behind the bars of two local pubs near London and admits there was one night she feared she had outstayed her welcome.

She explains, "I was a barmaid for about nine months before I started acting... There was one (pub) called The Three Pigeons, which was a relatively nice pub, and then there was one called The French Horn, which was less nice... the occasional bottle fight.

"I was just cast in my first-ever movie, Pride and Prejudice..., and a week later I was going to quit the job and go and film the movie and there was a huge fight that broke out and people were hitting each other with bottles.

"I thought, 'Not now! I'm just about out of this pub'. I was hiding behind the counter with my hands over my face, going, 'Don't touch the face!'"

Mulligan reveals The French Horn has since been demolished.