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Being Blunt
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From English rose to award-winning horror sci-fi star, Emily Blunt’s career looks set to continue apace with another cliché-defying action turn… Blunt BEING
When Emily Blunt first burst onto the scene as the cut-glass and cutthroat senior assistant vying with Anne Hathaway for Meryl Streep’s affection in 2006’s The Devil Wears Prada, few could have predicted where her career stands today.
That’s not to say that her turn wasn’t anything short of scenestealing – it certainly was. But Blunt would go on to mix roles more traditionally in keeping with her typically British sensibilities with a string of performances in fantasy adventures (Snow White & The Huntsman), action thrillers (Sicario, The Edge of Tomorrow), and critically acclaimed sci-fi horrors (A Quiet Place).
“I went from being very sweet interesting English rose characters to the British bitch,” Blunt, now 36, explains. “I had to shake that tail, by doing other stuff. I’m feeling whispers of ‘She does action now’. I don’t want to be pigeonholed.”
Even so, some opportunities are too good to be missed, and Blunt will soon be returning to her more physical persona in the upcoming sequel to smash-hit alien flick A Quiet Place, made alongside husband (and US Office star) John Krasinski.
“We were aware that the studio was probably going to make a sequel, with or without us," she explains. "…We were both very steadfast about not being involved. And then all of that mad reaction to the first film happened”.
Arriving in 2018, it was an immediate critical and commercial triumph. The SAG award-winning performance laid down by Blunt in her role as the mother of a family living in a world where the slightest sound could be fatal, spoke to something much deeper. “The true heart of the film, in my opinion, is the relationship between the members of that family,” the Wandsworth-native nods. “And what makes this so much more intense and personal is that this relationship has to be shown with gestures and not with words. And because the film is about love, it doesn't need to express itself in words. You can look back to the example of the great actresses of the silent movie era and how they were able to convey such extreme feelings as happiness, sadness or terror simply with their expressions. In a way we were going back to that era.”
...once we finished the film, we had this very good and gratifying feeling about the process.
A Quiet Place also gave fans their first viewing of cinematic supercouple Blunt and Krasinski’s work on a project together. Though their relationship seems tailormade for Hollywood’s more schmaltzy offerings, few could have predicted the tone of their eventual joint debut.
“The idea of doing theatre together was already something we had been discussing,” Blunt reveals. “And for several years the studios had been sending us scripts for romantic comedies which would have given us the opportunity to play in the same movie. We didn't want to tread on each other's territory. That's why he didn't ask me to play the main role in A Quiet Place at first. Instead, he waited until I asked him if I could do it.”
With their soon-to-be ten-year marriage, and the two daughters they share together, was Blunt at all worried about starring alongside and being directed by her husband?
“Yes, of course,” she smiles. “In the first film we had no idea beforehand how things would work out on the set between us. We had been looking for the right thing to work on together for a long time.
But once we finished the film, we had this very good and gratifying feeling about the process. We were really thrilled to see how we respected each other and cared for each other while shooting the movie that was on a totally different level from our marriage.”
In fact, it seems for Blunt and Krasinski, the chance to spend two years fleeing from an imaginary extra-terrestrial invasion on screen, actually strengthened the pair’s bond behind the camera.
“Because he involved me so much in artistic decisions, I also became his creative partner apart from being his lead actress. We trust each other and care for each other very deeply, and that means we can enjoy our lives together and believe in building a future together with our children.”
And not only has the chance of A Quiet Place franchise secured that future, but the trials and tribulations of action heroism have their other perks, too.
“I'm lucky that I come from a family where we don't really put on a lot of weight,” she says, “but I've also learnt how to train properly from working with Tom Cruise on The Edge of Tomorrow and then doing a film like Sicario.
“You learn to enjoy the discipline of that, although if I don't have to prepare for a very physical role, I'm usually riding bicycles or going on hikes with my husband anyway.”
Sarah Connolly Mezzo-Soprano Malcolm Martineau Piano
Friday 8 May 2020 Uppingham School Memorial Hall 7:30pm-8:30pm
Full Price £20, Concession £15, Student £10 Includes admission to morning masterclass
