Interview with director Nicolas Winding Refn about Drive:
CHEW-BOSE: Ok. So, let’s talk about Carey Mulligan. At first I was bit unsure of her as Irene…
REFN: Well, in the novel, she’s Hispanic…
CHEW-BOSE: You’ve mentioned that you see some hints of Molly Ringwald in her. You’re also going to work again with her. As a director, what draws you to her acting?
REFN: Working with her is terrific. She moved in to my wife’s and my house in Los Angeles and lived with us. So we became very close. She’s an amazing actress. I was meeting many other actresses, great actresses, for this role of Irene, but there was nothing for me that was clicking. And I didn’t know why because there was so much talent around me. And I never thought of Carey Mulligan for the movie. And it really came about that I got a call from her agent asking if I’d meet with her, and I hadn’t even seen any of her movies. My wife had seen An Education and so had my mother, and said it was very good. So I said, “Sure we can meet, come to the house.” Everybody had to come to the house. She came a few days later, and I was really confused, and irritated, and desperate why I couldn’t find Irene, because we were getting closer and closer to the start date. The minute she walked through the door, I said, “You’re it.”
CHEW-BOSE: What was “it” about her?
REFN: I knew that I would want to protect her. And she reminded me of my wife in a way, because she felt so pure that I could now, be the driver of the movie. I knew I could destroy anything around me to protect her.
Ars Marginal 