Carey Mulligan hated being on strict diet.

The Ocsar-nominated actress admits she deprived herself four years ago when she went through "a phase of not being comfortable with myself" and says it wasn't a good time.

She said: "Weetabix for breakfast, soup for lunch and salad for dinner.

'No, I will not have that glass of wine! Put that pizza away!' It was not fun."

Carey was appearing in 'The Seagull' at the Royal Court at the time and said her weight plummeted to 112lbs - but insisted she wouldn't go to such extreme lengths again.

She said: "I was very thin at the beginning of 'An Education' and I remember the scene where I'm dancing and you can see my spine. Yuck. I would never want to be so thin that someone would think it's a good idea to be thin, and make themselves miserable."

Now the beauty says she "fluctuates" and eats what she wants within reason.

She said: "I'm not going to restrict myself or make myself miserable. It's never affected my work or my relationships, however big or small I've been, so I finally came to the realisation that it doesn't matter.

"I think I went through a phase of not being comfortable with myself and now I am."