The Great Gatsby star plays women's rights campaigner Maud Watts in the film, which charts the fight for females to be given the right to vote in 20th Century Britain.

She was so impressed by the story and the determination of those involved in the women's suffrage movement that she was bent on getting a permanent reminder of her time on-set inked onto her body.

Carey is now sporting a new tattoo on her wrist containing an inspirational quote from the movie - "Love that overcometh" - but she was left frustrated when her co-star Helena Bonham Carter and director Sarah Gavron refused to get matching inkings.

"I inked up more," Carey tells U.K. talk show host Graham Norton. "(The phrase) was in the film and I was so ramped after the film I went and did it and then I emailed everyone including Helena and Sarah and said, 'I did it. Did you?' and it was an overwhelming 'No'. Helena sent me a picture of a fake bunny tattoo!"

Carey has previously told how appearing in the film gave her a deeper appreciation of the need to stand up and campaign for important issues, and she was impressed when a dozen protesters stormed the red carpet at the London premiere of Suffragette this week (beg05Oct15).

The incident was staged to voice opposition to U.K. government plans to cut funding for domestic violence services, and Carey was proud the movie is helping to galvanise protesters.

She said at the premiere, "It's awesome. Great. That's so exciting... I wish I could (do that). I would like to be as brave as that. So for these women tonight I think that's awesome."