Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby has suffered from the kind of breathy and lengthy casting news that seems to be plaguing the industry as a whole lately. Just about every lovely actress was on the list.  It looked just like the one circulating for The Dark Knight Rises, actually.

But no more.  Deadline Hollywood Daily has it straight from the mouth of Luhrmann that Carey Mulligan will be playing Daisy Buchanan.

Everyone’s thrilled, including myself.  Daisy is a tough character — she’s more of a shimmery ideal than a real woman. She’s manipulative and shallow, but she has to be so intoxicating that you understand why Gatsby continues to be obsessed by her.  This is frequently interpreted as bland and vacant onscreen.

But I think Mulligan is going to pull it off.  I have to base my opinion of her purely on An Education, but I actually see a lot of similarities. Jenny could have easily been played as stupid and horrible. She’s completely wrapped up a man largely because he oozes wealth and sophistication. There’s a dozen moments (particularly when she sneers at Olivia Williams) where you ought to just hate her because her nose is so far in the air — and yet you don’t. You completely understand why Chanel perfume proves so damn alluring.

Leonardo DiCaprio is playing Gatsby, and of course he’ll knock it out of the park. (Man, he has a thing for sharp-suited roles.)  My biggest fear is Luhrmann. The story is right up his alley — gleeful days of decadence hiding a rotten core, a doomed love affair — but I’m still a bit sore about Australia.   Make me forget all about it, Luhrmann, and hit me with some drama again!