WATCH: Carey Mulligan talks Far from the Madding Crowd and plays 'Snog, Marry, Avoid' with Independent.ie

Carey Mulligan stars opposite Tom Sturridge, Michael Sheen, and Mattias Schoenaerts in Far from the Madding Crowd, a big screen adaptation of Thomas Hardy's novel.

Set in Victorian England it charts the life of Bathsheba Everdene (Mulligan) who attracts three very different suitors: sheep farmer Gabriel Oak (Schoenaerts), reckless Sergeant Frank Troy (Tom Sturridge), and prosperous, mature bachelor William Boldwood (Michael Sheen).

Asked about the relevance of the story today, she says, "I think these kind of stories are often relatable because there are so many universal themes and she's a very modern woman for her time, very forward-thinking, very strong-willed and independent and within that social context that's completely unheard of, the way she behaves in the story.  So I think a lot of that is very relatable for women now."

Of her character's attraction to the bad boy Troy and whether she has been subject to the same herself, she says, "The bad boy thing?  I guess the thing Troy represents that Oak doesn't have and Boldwood doesn't have is that he is really forward and he says exactly what he thinks and he is sort of surprising and shocking in that way, especially for a woman in that time.

"She's young and naive and falls into a sort of bad relationship but I think that's youth.  I think thats just when you're young and you don't really know yourself that that can happen."

Given the trio of suitors it's not too far a stretch to compare her predicament to the classic 'Snog, Marry, Avoid' game and when asked which of her former co-stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael Fassbender and Ryan Gosling she would snog, marry, avoid or go on the beer with she laughs, "Go on a beer with Fassbender, LDC and Ryan and neither snog nor marry either of them, honestly!"

*Far From The Madding Crowd in cinemas May 1