Emily Blunt is a British actress best known for her roles in _The Young Victoria (2009)_ (qv) and _The Devil Wears Prada (2006)_ (qv). She was born on February 23, 1983, in Roehampton, South West London, England, the second of four children in the family of a teacher mother and barrister father. She received a rigorous education at Ibstock Place School, a co-ed private school at Roehampton. However, young Emily Blunt had a stammer, since she was a kid of 8. Her mother took her to relaxation classes, which did not do anything. She reached a turning point at 12, when a teacher cleverly asked her to play a character with a different voice and said, "I really believe in you". Blunt ended up using a northern accent, and it did the trick, her stammer disappeared. From 1999 - 2001, Blunt went to Hurtwood House, the top co-ed boarding school where she would excel at sport, cello and singing. She also had two years of drama studies at Hurtwood's theatre course. In August 2000, she was chosen to perform at the Edinburgh Festival. She was signed up by an agent, 'Kenneth Mcreddie' (qv), who led her to the West End and the BBC, scoring her roles in several period dramas on stage as well as on TV productions, such as _"Foyle's War" (2002)_ (qv), _Henry VIII (2003) (TV)_ (qv) and _"Empire" (2005)_ (qv). In 2001, she appeared as "Gwen Cavendish" opposite Dame 'Judi Dench' (qv) in Sir 'Peter Hall (I)' (qv)'s production of "The Royal Family" at Haymarket Theatre. For that role, she won the Evening Standard Award for Best Newcomer. In 2002, she played "Juliet" in "Romeo and Juliet" at the prestigious Chichester Festival. Blunt's career ascended to international fame after she starred as "Isolda" opposite 'Alex Kingston (I)' (qv) in _Boudica (2003)_ (qv). A year later, she won critical acclaim for her breakout performance as "Tamsin", a well-educated, cynical and deceptive 16-year-old beauty in _My Summer of Love (2004)_ (qv), a story of two lonely girls from the opposite ends of the social heap. Emily Blunt and her co-star, 'Natalie Press' (qv), shared an Evening Standard British Film award for Most Promising Newcomer. In 2005, she spent a few months in Australia filming _Irresistible (2006)_ (qv) with 'Susan Sarandon' (qv) and 'Sam Neill' (qv). Blunt gave an impressive performance as "Mara", a cunning young destroyer who acts crazy and surreptitiously provokes paranoia in others. She also continued her work on British television, starring as "Natasha" in 'Stephen Poliakoff' (qv)'s _Gideon's Daughter (2005) (TV)_ (qv), opposite 'Bill Nighy' (qv), a role that won her a 2007 Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role. She continued the line of playing manipulative characters as "Emily", a caustic put-upon assistant to 'Meryl Streep' (qv)'s lead in _The Devil Wears Prada (2006)_ (qv). Blunt's performance with a neurotic twist added a dimension of sarcasm to the comedy, and gained her much attention as well as new jobs: in two dramas opposite 'Tom Hanks' (qv), then in the title role in the period drama, _The Young Victoria (2009)_ (qv). Her most recent works include appearances as antiques dealer "Gwen Conliffe" in _The Wolfman (2010)_ (qv) and as the ballerina in _The Adjustment Bureau (2011)_ (qv). Emily Blunt is a highly versatile actress and a multifaceted person. Her talents include singing and playing cello; she is also skilled at horseback riding. She was in a relationship with Canadian singer 'Michael Bublé' (qv), whom she met at the Australian Logie Awards in 2005 and, again, a few months later, backstage at his Los Angeles concert. Their relationship ended in 2008. Blunt's friend, 'Anne Hathaway' (qv), introduced her to 'John Krasinski' (qv), and they have been together since November 2008. On August 28, 2009, Blunt and Krasinski announced their engagement. The couple married on July 10, 2010, at the estate of their friend, 'George Clooney' (qv), on Lake Como in Italy. Emily Blunt and John Krasinsky are living in the Los Angeles area, California.
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Emily Blunt
- I'd love to be exciting and say that I was the rebel at school, but sadly I wasn't.
- (On her manipulative character in _My Summer of Love (2004)_ (qv)) "Whether they like to admit it or not, everyone's got a bit of "Tamsin" in them".
- (On being an actress) "You feel very much like a puppet, but it had been what I was accustomed to - so you just get on with it and try to find something that rings true."
- (On why she is often cast as the bad-girl) "I have sly eyes. When I was in school they always said, 'Emily can never be elected Head Girl because you never know what she's thinking."
- (On 'Susan Sarandon' (qv)) "She's just a force of nature. Amazing to work with. We just had such a laugh. And, she's frighteningly smart".
- (On becoming a successful actress) "It was just crazy. It just sort of fell into my lap. It's an awful story for people who've struggled and waited. It's a horrible thing to hear. It was just incredibly fortunate. And now I can't believe I was so casual about it, because I really wouldn't want to do anything else."
- (On her childhood) "My head was occupied all the time. I was confused about what I wanted to do or who I was; I didn't really feel I had an identity growing up."
- (On performing period-drama dialogue) "I mean, you try to make it as real as possible but when you have lines like 'The fallen eagle is Caesar; the vulture Octavius, and there is one, yet to be decided, who will betray them all'. And you're just like, 'Great, how am I going to make that work?'."
- (On accepting her Golden Globe in 2007 without a written speech) "The Globes night was a frenzy: I hadn't written anything. I looked down at the audience and 'Jack Nicholson (I)' (qv) was staring up at me and I couldn't even remember what my bloody name was. So I have learnt my lesson!".
- I couldn't talk as a kid because I stammered all the time, so I would just watch. I'm fascinated by human behavior. People surprise me all the time. And I love being able to morph into different characters.
- [on playing her second lesbian character in a film] I'm going to become a gay icon. Have I ever flirted with that side? No, never [but] I do remember girl crushes on other girls in my year group [at school]. There are these girls who are magnetic and beautiful and sooo cool. You just feel yourself shrink in their presence.
- [on acting] I guess it's not really a job, is it? I was speaking to 'Billy Connolly (I)' (qv) the other day and we were talking about the work he's done for Comic Relief and all that he's done in Africa and I was saying 'Gosh, sometimes I just wonder if I have a worthwhile job', and he said: 'I'm going to stop you there. You have an incredibly important job. You offer people an escape, you offer people a way out and some relief from anything they might be going through and it's a very important job.' Because he was so adamant about it and spoke very passionately about why it was an important job, it's the first time I've realised that it might be that.
- I wonder if I'll be alive? God knows. I'm not very good at looking that far ahead. I'd love to not have a walker at 80. I'd love to still be upright. And children and grandchildren, I'd love that. I'd love not to be a cantankerous old bat. I'd love to be a fun-loving nana. -- on what will she be like at age 80.
- Yes. I heard a conversation with a studio head who said that they're willing to make an 'Adam Sandler (I)' (qv) film or a 'Will Smith (I)' (qv) film and maybe one $20m film a year and that's it. That's quite worrying that the studios are only going to be willing to spend money on films that are no risk, with the big stars that everyone is going to flock to see. So, unfortunately, there's a lot of films with a very human heartbeat that aren't getting seen or made. I think there's a great sadness in that. -- on if she worries about independent, offbeat films will struggle to get made because of the economic climate.
- I think it's embarrassing to hear people talk about their process because you always sound a bit wanky. You always imagine people are reading the article going: 'Oh, get a real job.'
- I learned very early on to reel everything in. Sometimes you just shouldn't do anything because the camera sees everything - like the smallest flick of your eye and it catches it and it reads as something. The performances I enjoy are the ones that are hard to read or ambiguous or left-of-centre because it makes you look closer and that's what humans are like - quite mysterious creatures, hard to pinpoint.
- It's a film where human behavior is so fascinating that I could watch someone making pancakes with their child all day because of everything that's going on between them. That little boy - I want to cry thinking about it - he was just magical in it. It's the best performance by a kid I've ever seen -- on one of her favorite films, _Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)_ (qv).
- It's not like people say, "Oh my Gosh, are you Emily Blunt?" It's more like "Are you the girl in _The Devil Wears Prada (2006)_ (qv)?". I'm defined by it and that's okay.
- [on her parents, enthusiastic gardeners]: I've never shoveled mud before, but I should.
- I just love the whole story of having faith in ludicrous ideas. Each character from _Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2011)_ (qv) is on a real journey and at the end of the film, you see all their journeys collide and it's just magical.
- [on filming _Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2011)_ (qv)] In London everyone just went back to their own house and did their own things. We were so tired,shooting six days a week most of the time. Then we went to Morocco and it was heaven. All the crew and the cast were in the same hotel. People would have drinks at night and then we'd wander across the street to this French restaurant. It was just great. It was like being at camp.
- I'm a freak for cooking shows. If I'm home on a Saturday, I can watch the Food Network all day. just thinking about it, I'm getting all giddy!
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