Emily Blunt first caught the world’s attention with her supporting turn in The Devil Wears Prada. In that film, she was the yin to Anne Hathaway’s yang, full of withering put downs and exasperated sighs.It’s a sidekick performance for the ages and one made all the more astounding when you realize she was only 22 years old during filming. What were you doing when you were 22 years old? Watching Home and Away and eating Cheesestrings for breakfast, probably. For years after this breakthrough, she plugged away in forgettable films that never quite landed. The Adjustment Bureau, Salmon Fishing in the Yeme, The Five Year Engagement, Gulliver’s Travels – all middling-to-bad films that Emily Blunt elevated with her mere presence.
The moment I knew that Emily Blunt was going to be okay was when she starred in The Edge of Tomorrow, a terrific action movie that should have honestly been the highest grossing film that year. Blunt stars opposite Tom Cruise and is everything you could ever want from a female action lead – icy, fierce, badass. That same year, she starred in the screen adaptation of the musical Into The Woods. Since then, she has dabbled in fantasy (Huntsman: The Winter’s War), drama (The Girl on the Train) and action (Sicario). She can currently be seen in The Quiet Place, a low-budget horror, and will star in a Mary Poppins reboot later this year. It’s not many actresses that can flit between comedy, action and musicals with such ease, but Emily Blunt is no ordinary actress. In fact, I would wager that she’s among the most versatile of her generation, but doesn’t have nearly as many meaty roles under her belt as she should, another casualty of Hollywood’s woman problem.
Aside from being enormously talented, Emily Blunt also has the good fortune of being both immensely charming and likeable. In interviews, she’s effortlessly funny, whether she’s impersonating her daughter’s American accent or hilariously downplaying the story of how she met her husband John Krasinski. Seriously, type ‘emily blunt jimmy kimmel’ into YouTube’s search bar and I defy you not to go down an Emily Blunt rabbit hole. You will almost certainly catch yourself smiling dumbly as she relays a carefully chosen anecdote about her baby burping and wishing you could go for a glass of wine with her. This is before I even get to her personal life. And what a personal life she has! Not only did she once date Michael Bublé, but she is now married to John Krasinski. In other words, she has dated two men who are literally world-renowned for being handsome and charming. Can you even imagine?And just when you think she couldn’t have a more charmed existence, you discover that her sister is married to Stanley Tucci, the most wonderful man alive. But Emily Blunt is so damn great that I don’t even care. As far as I am concerned, she deserves every good thing that comes her way, whether that’s a juicy role or a dreamy in-law.