Carey Mulligan reads viral poem And People Stayed At Home for Jo Whiley’s Storytime

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Carey Mulligan jokes she’s had a ‘good excuse to be away from my family’ as she reads out poem on Jo Whiley’s radio show amid lockdown

By Joanna Crawley and Rianne Addo For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

Jo Whiley has been providing comforting bedtime listening for the whole family on BBC Radio 2.

Amid the coronavirus lockdown, the radio star, 54, has been inviting celebrity guests onto her evening show for Storytime.

Following on from singer Tom Fletcher and Jo’s BBC colleague Greg James, Thursday saw actress Carey Mulligan, 34, read to the nation, who joked the opportunity gave her a ‘good excuse’ to be away from her husband Marcus Mumford, 33, and their children Evelyn, four, and Wilfred, two.  

‘I hid in a room’: Carey Mulligan read to the nation for Jo Whiley’s Radio 2 Storytime show on Thursday, before joking the opportunity gave her a ‘good excuse’ to be away from her family

Hollywood star Carey recited Kitty O’Meara’s poem And People Stayed At Home, which has gone viral in recent weeks due to its depiction of the global crisis.  

The thespian was met with praise, as a captivated listener tweeted: ‘Wiping away some tears after hearing Carey Mulligan read ‘And People Stayed Home’. Thanks, @jowhiley @BBCRadio2 Something magical and beautiful’, while another penned: ‘Wow. Just wow.’ [sic] 

When asked how she’s keeping up during the global crisis, the Never Let Me Go star poked fun at isolating with her nearest and dearest.

Family first: The actress, 34, shares children Evelyn, four, and Wilfred, two, with husband Marcus Mumford, 33 (pictured in May 2012)

Family first: The actress, 34, shares children Evelyn, four, and Wilfred, two, with husband Marcus Mumford, 33 (pictured in May 2012)

What a performance: The thespian was met with praise from captivated listeners, who took to Twitter to share their reactions

What a performance: The thespian was met with praise from captivated listeners, who took to Twitter to share their reactions

The blonde quipped: ‘I’m well. It read me a really good excuse to walk away from the family and hide in a room. I did it about 20 times. It took me a half hour. We’re lucky we have a bit of space so we’re all together, it’s great.’

And People Stayed Home by Kitty O’Meara

And people stayed home

and read books and listened

and rested and exercised

and made art and played

and learned new ways of being

and stopped

and listened deeper

someone meditated

someone prayed

someone danced

someone met their shadow

and people began to think differently

and people healed

and in the absence of people who lived in ignorant ways,

dangerous, meaningless and heartless,

even the earth began to heal

and when the danger ended

and people found each other

grieved for the dead people

and they made new choices

and dreamed of new visions

and created new ways of life

and healed the earth completely

just as they were healed themselves.

 

On her view of the powerful poem, the media personality explained: ‘I think the importance of being together, we’re so lucky we have our close families together. Everyday problems don’t seem so big now.’

Carey rounded off her appearance – which was marred by technical issues – by asking the host to play Love… Thy Will Be Done by Martika, which she hailed her ‘favourite song’ for when ‘I’m feeling low’. 

The TV, film and stage star is in self isolation with her family amid what was supposed to be a busy period promoting her new film.

Promising Young Woman received rave reviews after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in February and was slated for an April release.

It follows the story of Cassie (Mulligan) who is a medical school dropout on the brink of 30, still living with her parents (Jennifer Coolidge, Clancy Brown), who works at a coffee shop and feels generally unfulfilled in her life. 

She has no professional ambitions, no boyfriend, nor any other standard interests. She does, however, have a strange vocation that sees her lead a double life of sorts. 

Once a week or so, she dresses and goes to bars where she acts intoxicated and on the brink of passing out. It is here where men who act as though they are ‘helping’ her when really they are trying to take advantage. 

She allows them to take her back home with them before she delivers a stone-cold-sober message that will stop them from undergoing such  behaviour in the future. 

The film is writer-director Emmerald Fennell’s debut, she is best known for show-running the second series of Killing Eve.   

In character: The TV, film and stage star is in self isolation with her family amid what was supposed to be a busy period promoting her new film Promising Young Woman (pictured left)

In character: The TV, film and stage star is in self isolation with her family amid what was supposed to be a busy period promoting her new film Promising Young Woman (pictured left)