Emily Blunt is a British actress who is the recipient of several accolades. Forbes ranked her as one of the highest-paid actresses in the world in 2020.
Let’s find out more about the famous actress!
- Her full name is Emily Olivia Leah Blunt.
- She was born on 23rd of February 1983.
- She was born in the London Borough of Wandsworth
- She’s the second of four children.
- Her mother Joanna is a former actress and teacher. Her father, Oliver Blunt is as barrister.
- Her siblings are Felicity, Sebastian, and Susannah.
- Her grandfather was Major General Peter Blunt, and one of her paternal uncles is Crispin Blunt, Conservative Member of Parliament for Reigate.
- From age seven to 14, Blunt had difficulties with stuttering.
- She credits a school teacher for helping her manage the stutter through acting.
- The British actress is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for three British Academy Film Awards.
- Forbes ranked her as one of the highest-paid actresses in the world in 2020.
- Emily Blunt made her acting debut in a 2001 stage production of The Royal Family.
- She went on to appear in the television film Boudica (2003) and portrayed Queen Catherine Howard in the miniseries Henry VIII (2003).
- She made her feature film debut in the drama My Summer of Love (2004).
- Blunt’s breakthrough came in 2006 with her starring roles in the television film Gideon’s Daughter and the comedy-drama film The Devil Wears Prada.
- The former won her a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress and the latter earned her a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
- Bought a $2.2 million new house in Vancouver where she lived with her boyfriend at the time, pop singer Michael Bublé.
- Named Best Female Scene-Stealer for her performance in The Devil Wears Prada (2006) by Entertainment Weekly.
- She was told to lose weight for her role as Emily in The Devil Wears Prada (2006). She revealed this in a 2006 interview with Craig Ferguson. Co-star Anne Hathaway tells a similar story, and reports that she and Emily were always hungry on-set due to being kept on strict diets to maintain the rail-thin “super-model” look.
- For her breakout performance in The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Emily convinced David Frankel that her character should be British rather than American. Emily also improvised many of her lines and told interviewers that she based the character on people she’s met, but would never want to associate with.
- In 2004, Emily shared the prestigious Evening Standard British Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer with Natalie Press.
- Acting and adopting new accents helped her to overcome a debilitating speech impediment at age 12.
- Admits she and her The Devil Wears Prada (2006) co-star Stanley Tucci competed to see who could be more over-the-top in their scenes. Tucci admits his young co-star won “hands down”.
- At the 2002 Chichester Festival, Emily earned rave reviews playing Juliet in a production of Romeo and Juliet.
- Favourite actresses are: Cate Blanchett, Emma Thompson, Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman.
- Made her theatrical debut alongside Dame Judi Dench in The Royal Family. She had only six months of formal acting training before gaining the role of Gwen for which she was paid £350 per week.
- Susan Sarandon asked her to audition for the role of Mara in Irresistible (2006) after seeing My Summer of Love (2004).
- Upon filming their first scene together for The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Meryl Streep laughed that Blunt should be given the film carbon copy, rather than steal the movie.
- She is not related to singer James Blunt.
- She is the great-niece of actor and retired Major-General Thomas Anthony ‘Tony’ Richardson.
- Grew up in Roehampton, London.
- The new face of Max Mara ad campaign (2007).
- Her ex-boyfriend Michael Bublé wrote the hit single “Everything” for her. She is also on his album “Call Me Irresponsible”, where she sings briefly at the end of the song “Me and Mrs. Jones”.
- Was named as one of Screen International’s “Stars of Tomorrow” alongside James McAvoy, Noel Clarke, Michelle Ryan and Rupert Friend.
- Attended the 2008 Park City – Kari Feinstein Sundance Style Lounge.
- Broke up with longtime boyfriend Michael Bublé in July 2008. They had been together since 2005.
- Best friends with actress Anne Hathaway. Emily refers to Anne as “her rock”.
- Is a strong alto singer.
- Is a grade 8 cellist.
- At 16, was offered a record deal after a producer spotted her in the musical ‘Bliss’ at the Edinburgh Festival.
- Had a hamster named Tigger.
- Was in consideration to replace Katie Holmes in the role of Rachel Dawes in The Dark Knight (2008), but Maggie Gyllenhaal was cast instead.
- Was in consideration for the role of Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady after Keira Knightley dropped out of the project, but Carey Mulligan was cast instead.
- Was in consideration for the role of Madolyn in The Departed (2006), but Vera Farmiga was cast instead.
- Was originally cast as Natasha Rushman/Black Widow in Iron Man 2 (2010), but dropped out due to a scheduling clash with Gulliver’s Travels (2010). As a result Scarlett Johansson was cast instead.
- Was in consideration for the role of Peggy Carter in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), but Hayley Atwell was cast instead. Her husband John Krasinski was considered for the part of Steve Rogers/Captain America in the same movie, but Chris Evans was eventually chosen.
- Niece of Crispin Blunt who is a Member of Parliament (MP) for the British Conservative Party and also holds the post of Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Ministry of Justice.
- Used to be neighbors with Jimmy Kimmel.
- Her grandfather was Major General Peter Blunt CB., MBE., GM., FCIT. Emily read a piece, beautifully, at his funeral in 2003. MG Blunt won the George Medal for rescuing a soldier from a truck soaked in petrol after an accident in Germany.
- Ranked #8 in the ‘Women We’d Love To Love’ by a poll of 4,000 gay women.
- Ranked #73 in the 2009 FHM list of “100 Sexiest Women in the World”.
- Ranked #53 in the 2010 Ask Men list of the Top 99 Most Desirable Women.
- Ranked #58 in the 2009 Ask Men list of the Top 99 Most Desirable Women.
- Ranked as having one of the most “Beautiful Famous Faces” by “The Annual Independent Critics List of the 100 Most Beautiful Famous Faces From Around the World.” She was ranked #19 in 2010 and #34 in 2009.
- Has three siblings: Felicity Blunt, Sebastian Blunt and Susannah Blunt.
- Sister-in-law of Stanley Tucci, her co-star in The Devil Wears Prada (2006). He is married to her sister Felicity Blunt.
- Best friends with actress Amy Adams. The two became very close while shooting Sunshine Cleaning (2008) in 2008.
- Counts Jaws (1975) as her all-time favorite movie which she first saw at age 10.
- Stuttered severely as a young girl and ultimately overcame her problem by finding a different ‘voice’ (acting). Cites friend Colin Firth’s stammering King George VI in the The King’s Speech (2010) as an accurate depiction of how she actually spoke as a youth.
- Father Oliver Blunt is a top UK criminal defense barrister/lawyer.
- She and her husband, John Krasinski, have a red fox Labrador named Finn.
- In various locations across Europe filming The Wolfman (2010) with Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins. [July 2008]
- Filming Wild Target (2010) with Bill Nighy and Rupert Grint. [September 2008]
- Filming The Great Buck Howard (2008) with John Malkovich and Tom Hanks. [October 2006]
- Married her boyfriend of 20 months John Krasinski following an 11-month-long engagement.
- Was 6 months pregnant with her daughter Hazel when she completed filming Into the Woods (2014).
- Daughter-in-law of Ron Krasinski and Mary Ann Krasinski.
- Returned to work 4 months after giving birth to her daughter Hazel to begin filming Sicario (2015).
- Found out about her Golden Globe nomination for Into the Woods (2014) while she was having a massage in Dubai, UAE. She served as a jury member of the Dubai Film Festival at the time.
- When she was a guest on Lip Sync Battle (2015), LL Cool J called her and Anne Hathaway two of the most powerful stars of the big screen; he called it a “Devil Wears Prada reunion battle”; he said Blunt “had some swagger, was incomparable and breathtaking”.
- Edge of Tomorrow (2014) was Blunt’s first action movie; Tom Cruise thought she was screwed because she was thrown in at the deep end. Blunt had never done a film of this magnitude before but felt it lived up to all of the buzz.
- During filming Edge of Tomorrow (2014), Blunt took Tom Cruise and director Doug Liman out for karaoke one night; she terrified Liman by getting to see her in that different light; she later competed against her Devil Wears Prada co-star Anne Hathaway in an episode of Lip Sync Battle (2015).
- Blunt thought it was fun to work with Tom Cruise on Edge of Tomorrow (2014) because it was a challenging shoot and the exo-suits were arduous to wear everyday.
- It was Tom Cruise’s idea to do three film premieres for Edge of Tomorrow (2014) all in one day; Blunt said it was harder on her because she needed a new dress, makeup and hairdo for each one, while her co-star just needed a new suit, but still said they were a lot more fun. One of the premieres was at 5am and it was wet; director Doug Liman said it was a testament to Cruise’s star power.
- Has been in three film about characters trying to change the future, The Adjustment Bureau (2011), Looper (2012) and Edge of Tomorrow (2014). Had she accepted the role as Sarah Connor in Terminator Genisys (2015), that number would be 4.
- Gave birth to her 2nd child at age 33, a daughter named Violet Krasinski in mid-June 2016. Child’s father is her husband, John Krasinski.
- Was 4 months pregnant with her daughter Violet when she completed filming The Girl on the Train (2016).
- Returned to work 6 months after giving birth to her daughter Violet to begin filming Sherlock Gnomes (2018).
- Best friends with James Corden.
- During both of her first two pregnancies, Blunt was in the midst of shooting films in which she played women struggling with infertility: the Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods (2014) and Rachel in The Girl on the Train (2016).
- Became a U.S. Citizen in 2015. However she likes to be identified as British. She was sworn in on the same day as friend Matthew McConaughey’s wife Camila Alves McConaughey.
- Began filming Mary Poppins Returns (2018), just 6 months after giving birth. The production of the movie was postponed to accommodate Blunt’s pregnancy.
- Emily’s secret party trick is her ability to replicate a pigeon’s trill-she demonstrated the unusual talent in an interview with ELLE Canada in 2011.
- Best Friend Anne Hathaway set up Emily with John Krasinski in 2008 who went on to be her future husband.
- She was offered the role of Sister James in Doubt (2008). She suggested Amy Adams for the role as she felt the role suited Amy more. Amy went on to not only getting the role but also was nominated for an Oscar at the 81st Academy Awards.
- She was offered a role in Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 (2017) which she had to decline due to her pregnancy. They had worked together before in Sicario (2015).
- Lives in New York with husband John Krasinski and their two daughters Hazel and Violet since 2016.
- She has a fear of wearing Gloves. She says, “I don’t know why but I find them repulsive. I’d scream if my mother tried to make me wear them as a child – it must be a phobia.”.
- She has a phobia of heights.
- Had originally planned to go to university and study languages, hoping to become a U.N. translator.
- Has stated her dislike for “method acting”, calling it actors “trying to justify their paychecks”.
- Does not participate in social media.
- Decompresses through daily sessions of transcendental meditation.
- Is allergic to cats and horses.
- Nominated for the 2019 Golden Globe Award in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy category for her role as Mary Poppins in Mary Poppins Returns (2018), but lost to Olivia Colman for The Favourite (2018).
- Board member of the American Institute for Stuttering.
- Has a horrible fear of Cockroaches (katsaridaphobia).
- Had a 3-year relationship with singer Michael Bublé 2005-2008.
- She was performing in an arts course a-when she was spotted by an agent,.
- Made her professional debut at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival before completing her A levels.
Got anything to add?