If it were up to Carey Mulligan, the Promising Young Woman director Emerald Fennell would take home all the awards from the 2021 Oscars.
As the Best Lead Actress nominee tells E! News exclusively, there is no one more deserving of an Oscar than Emerald, who she first met over a cup of coffee a few years ago.
"Really from the second we sat down and had our first coffee in London to being on-set to shooting, to Sundance and through all of this stuff," Carey explains, "you can see how talented she is. She's exceptional."
But the praise didn't end there! The actress continues, "But she's also just the best person. So I feel so lucky that I've gotten to make this film, but to also come away with such close friends, it's been very special."
Emerald similarly gushed over Carey when talking to E!'s Giuliana Rancic. In her eyes, Carey is "just so good, but she's also just so incredibly funny."
"You know, that's the thing, I think dramatic actors rarely get to be funny and she's just dynamite at comedy," Emerald explained. "So yeah, it was just amazing [watching her performance unfold on set]."
She and Emerald will go up against some of Hollywood's biggest stars in their respective categories at tonight's show.
This year marks the second time Carey has been nominated for an Academy Award. She nabbed her first nod following her role in the 2009 film An Education.
Meanwhile, Promising Young Woman was Emerald's directorial debut. But this isn't her first time on a movie set by any means. The Brit had success as a screenwriter on season two of Killing Eve, and fans of Netflix's The Crown will recognize her as the actress behind Camilla Parker Bowles in the latest season.
As for the fashion, Emerald wore a look from Gucci, which she described, "Tonight I am Susan, your pottery teacher who has a business opportunity for you which is absolutely not a pyramid scheme."
To see the complete list of nominees, click here!