PALIN MITENK BLOG

By CAROLINE GRAHAM

Food for thought: Grinning Carey and Tom drive away from the store after purchasing a picnic supper


They claimed they were ‘just good friends’ when The Mail on Sunday spotted them sneaking out of the back entrance of a budget Los Angeles hotel.

But Oscar nominee Carey Mulligan and Britpack actor Tom Sturridge have been snapped enjoying each other’s company again – this time with Ms Mul¬ligan grinning as they drove away from a wholefood supermarket.

And bearded Sturridge, 25, the best friend of fellow Brit-pack star Robert Pattinson, is said to be ‘besotted’ with Ms Mulligan.

He certainly appeared to be just the fillip 25-year-old Ms Mulligan needed to bring a smile back to her face after her recent split from Wall Street 2 actor Shia LeBeouf – a break-up which is said to have left her ‘devastated’.

Now, as The Mail on Sunday revealed last weekend in an exclusive that was followed up around the globe, she is staying in a £69-a-night hotel next to Hollywood’s red-light district while she films the £20 million heist drama Drive.

On Monday night, she appeared on the red carpet at the Hollywood Film Awards in Los Angeles and joked about staying at the budget Best Western hotel. She said: ‘I’m not sure what the fuss is about. They have the best sweet potato fries in town. I do love it there.’



Flirty smile: Carey has been filiming Drive in LA with Ryan Gosling


Sweeping me off my feet! The actor scooped the blonde up in his arms


Later that night she and Sturridge, who starred in the comedy movie The Boat That Rocked, joined friends in the tiki-torch-lit courtyard of LA’s famed Chateau Marmont hotel.

A friend of the pair said: ‘They were laughing and joking. Carey has been down because of her break-up with Shia but Tom makes her laugh.

‘He is besotted by her and would love their relationship to go to the next level but she isn’t ready for that. They are great friends but they are not lovers. Yet.’


Taking a break: Ryan plays a Hollywood stunt driver in the film


Arm in arm: The pair seemed comfortable in each other's company


Over: Carey split from Shia LeBouf earlier this month

As our exclusive picture shows, the couple giggled as they left the supermarket on Wednesday to return to the Best Western with a picnic supper of wine, cheese and crisps.

A friend said: ‘Carey is very low-key and feels much happier at a budget hotel than she would at a five-star place.

‘She has found all the attention over her staying at the Best Western funny. She’s a lovely girl and she and Tom have known each other for a while.

‘Like many Brits in Hollywood she is happy to hang out with him because he’s someone who understands her sense of humour.

‘It’s hard when you get to LA and are successful to find true friends. She is enjoying being around Tom because he treats her like a normal girl.

‘It is a case of the Brits sticking together. There is definitely something in the air when you see them together. Tom is a great guy and they are best friends.’

Ms Mulligan, who was nominated for an Oscar for her star-making turn in last year’s film An Education, has become Hollywood’s latest It Girl. She now commands £3.5 million a picture.

Sturridge, normally clean-shaven, has grown a bushy beard for his next role as poet Carlo Marx in the upcoming movie adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s classic Beat novel On The Road, which also stars Pattinson’s girlfriend Kristen Stewart.

The source added: ‘Carey and Tom are part of the new Britpack in Hollywood. They are all fine actors who care more about their craft than they do about the perks of Hollywood.’

Neither Ms Mulligan’s spokesman nor Sturridge’s PR were available for comment last night.


Glum: Carey, at the Annual Hollywood Awards Gala earlier this week, has cut a forlorn figure in recent weeks


source: dailymail