Carey Mulligan is looking back with gratitude as Pride & Prejudice marks nearly two decades since its release. The British actor, who made her film debut as Kitty Bennet in Joe Wright’s acclaimed 2005 adaptation, said she still feels fortunate to have been part of the project that launched her career.

Speaking to People, Mulligan said, “I was so lucky to get that job. We talk about luck a lot in this job, and it is so true — there’s a little twist of fate that means you happen to be in the right room at the right time. Getting to be part of that was what gave me a career.”

The actor, now 40, added that she cherished being able to learn quietly while surrounded by a stellar ensemble that included Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen. “I feel incredibly lucky to have started in that place where I could sort of be in the shadows but witness brilliance around me. There was so much heart in it,” she said.

Mulligan also shared warm memories of director Joe Wright’s unconventional approach to building chemistry among the cast. “I remember Joe took us to the house with the sisters, and we spent a day just playing hide-and-seek and sardines in the house to make it feel like it was our home,” she recalled. “So much was done to make us feel like we had ownership of the story and the characters.”

Based on Jane Austen’s 1813 novel, the film follows Elizabeth Bennet — played by Knightley — as she navigates family expectations, social class, and a complicated first impression of the wealthy Mr Darcy, portrayed by Macfadyen. The period romance also starred Rosamund Pike, Tom Hollander, Talulah Riley, Simon Woods, and Kelly Reilly.

Since her breakout moment in Pride & Prejudice, Mulligan has gone on to deliver acclaimed performances in An Education, The Great Gatsby, and several other major films—a journey she still traces back to that first stroke of “luck”.