Carey Mulligan: ‘I’ll always look up to independent spirit Helen McCrory’

Carey Mulligan paid tribute to a “true independent spirit” as she dedicated an award win to the late Helen McCrory.

Mulligan, 35, was named best female lead at the Film Independent Spirit Awards for her role in Promising Young Woman. She used her speech to remember Peaky Blinders star McCrory, who died last week aged 52.

Mulligan said: “I want to dedicate this award to a true independent spirit, an actress that I have looked up to and will continue to look up to for the rest of my career, Helen McCrory. So thank you to her for everything she gave us.”

Emerald Fennell won best screenplay for the film while Riz Ahmed won best male lead for Sound Of Metal. Phoebe Waller-Bridge made an appearance as a presenter.

Ms McCrory’s death was announced by her husband, the actor Damian Lewis, last Friday.

The Homeland star said on Twitter his wife and mother of his two children had died after a battle with cancer.

Tributes flooded in for Ms McCrory, who played Narcissa Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, but also enjoyed a celebrated theatre career.

Mr Lewis said his wife had “lived by the principle of kindness and generosity” and always took an interest in others and “made them feel special”.

Writing in the Sunday Times, he said: “I’ve never known anyone so consciously spread happiness.

“Even when dying in her last few days, when talking to our wonderful carers, she repeatedly said, ‘thank you so much’ in her half-delirious state.”

The Billions Star said that Ms McCrory had joked about him moving on with "new girlfriends".

“She said to us from her bed, ‘I want Daddy to have girlfriends, lots of them, you must all love again, love isn’t possessive, but you know, Damian, try at least to get though the funeral without snogging someone’,” he said.