Carey Mulligan the flapper girl has a roaring good time in 1920s Great Gatsby shoot for Vogue

PUBLISHED: 12:55 EST, 15 April 2013 | UPDATED: 01:41 EST, 16 April 2013

At only 27-years-old she has struck up a reputation as an elegant screen actress thanks to her careful choice in acting parts.

And as Carey Mulligan graces the cover of American Vogue, it’s easy to see why her Great Gatsby co-star Leonardo DiCaprio hailed her as ‘the Next Big Thing’.

The screen star carries off the 1920s look impeccably well, donning a lime green low V-neck fitted gown for the publication’s front page.

In character: Carey Mulligan dons 20s attire for a new magazine photo spread channelling Great Gatsby

Carey is draped in jewels around her wrist, fingers, neck and ears, posing with her hand on her hip as she perches on a soft chair.

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The thespian – who plays Daisy Buchanan in the film out May 16 in the United Kingdom – wears a hat recognisable from the era and a slick of red lipstick with dark eye make-up.

In another shot the pixie-haired blonde throws her hands back with glee as she lounges back in a blue number.

Extravagant costumes: The actress stars as Daisy Buchanan in the film out in May

The jewel-embellished piece featuring a train at the back, is teamed with black Mary-Jane heels and which are visible as she crosses her legs in front of a backdrop of gold curtains and a glass table with floral arrangement.

In the limelight: Carey poses on the May cover of American Vogue wearing a green gown

Obviously in character and loving the limelight, Carey – who usually opts out of attending celebrity-packed parties – compares her role to the fame hungry stars of today.

'"I seem always curiously interested in myself, and it’s so much fun to stand off and look at me". That’s a direct Zelda quote,’ she explained, referencing the wife of the Great Gatsby book's writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. 'It’s that kind of feeling: I’m-so-little-and-there’s-nothing-to-me, watch-me-have-nothing-to-me.'

The British-born star is married to musician Marcus Mumford of Mumford & Sons.

Childhood pen pals who reconnected as adults, they are certainly not the type to be spotted falling out of nightclubs week after week.

Carey shared that her part is almost like portraying Kourtney, Kim or Khloe Kardashian as Daisy is never off limits as an object to look at.

‘She feels like she’s living in a movie of her own life. She’s constantly on show, performing all the time. Nothing bad can happen in a dream. You can’t die in a dream,’ Carey enlightened. 'She’s in her own TV show. She’s like a Kardashian.'

Her new drama/romance flick in which a Midwestern war veteran finds himself drawn to the past and lifestyle of his millionaire neighbour, also stars Leonardo (as Jay Gatsby), Isla Fisher and Tobey Maguire.