Carey Mulligan thinks her home life is much more important than her career.

The 35-year-old star - who has been nominated for the Best Actress gong at this year's Oscars - believes that spending quality time at home with her husband and their kids is more important than her work life.

Carey - who has Evelyn, five, and Wilfred, three, with music star Marcus Mumford - shared: "I feel very strongly about my job and I love my job and it’s the best job in the world, but also, it is a job.

"It can’t be more important than when I have to get home and have to do bathtime. Someone said the other day, ‘Did you bring Cassie home with you?’

"And I was like, ‘The nails I brought home, the hair extensions I brought home, but everything else, you can’t bring that into a house with two kids'. You’ve got to leave all of that stuff at work. So I think it’s a system that works for me for now."

Carey also revealed that Nicole Kidman has been a big "inspiration" for her in recent years.

She explained: "She was actually somewhat of an inspiration for us for 'Promising Young Woman'.

"She’s just extraordinary. She’s sort of simultaneously charming, and enticing, and terrifying. I think it’s just a masterclass."

The London-born actress has been nominated for an Oscar for her performance in 'Promising Young Woman', the Emerald Fennell-directed thriller film.

Carey received her first nomination more than a decade ago for her part in 'An Education' and she can still recall being "overwhelmed" by the experience.

She told the Sunday Mirror newspaper: "I was just so overwhelmed by the whole thing. I just remember being in a room with Sandra Bullock and being, ‘This is the greatest moment of my life’."