Biography

Emily Olivia Blunt was born on February 23 1983, in Roehampton, South West London. She attended school at Ibstock Place and Hurtwood House boarding school in Roehampton. Blunt discovered her talent for acting at an early age, during a school production. Since she was eight years old Emily had suffered with a stammer, it was only when her teacher asked her to play a character with a Northern accent that Emily was able to overcome the stammer and find her vocation.

During her time at Hurtwood House boarding school Emily was chosen to peform at the Edinburgh Film Festival and subsequently was signed by agent, Ken McReddie. Her talents were acknowledged from the start and she was quickly signed onto projects for the BBC, including ‘Foyle’s War’, ‘Henry VIII’, and ‘Empire’. In 2001 she appeared as Gwen Cavendish opposite Dame Judi Dench in Sir Peter Hall’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.

In 2003 she starred as Isolda opposite Alex Kingston in Boudica (2003) TV series and a year later she was cast as Tamsin in My Summer of Love (2004) from which she gained great critical acclaim. Emily Blunt and her co-star Nathalie Press shared an Evening Standard British Film award for Most Promising Newcomer. Next she was to star in Irresistible (2006) with Susan Sarandon who had personally requested that Emily audition for Mara. Also in 2005 Emily starred in Gideon’s Daughter (2005) (TV) opposite Bill Nighy, a role that won her a 2007 Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role.

Although Emily’s career had already been successful many critics claimed that 2006 was her “breakout year” for her role in The Devil Wears Prada (2006), as Emily, a fashion mad assistant at “Runway” magazine. The recognition Emily received from this role thrust her into the Hollywood circle and gained her a variety of new jobs. In 2007 Emily starred in four new projects, most notably Charlie Wilson’s War alongside Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts and The Jane Austen Book Club

2008 was also a successful year with Emily filming the witty independent film Sunshine Cleaning alongside Hollywood star Amy Adams and The Great Buck Howard. A more serious role came her way in 2008 when it was announced that she would take the lead role in The Young Victoria. Emily expressed a joy in being able to switch from Comedy to drama – “To play the Queen of England and for it to be a subtle drama was great for me because I have played a lot of comedy roles since ‘Prada,. That seemed to be what was coming my way because I like doing funny stuff. But I think I can mix it up.”

After The Young Victoria fans got to see Emily in a wide variety of exciting projects. She first worked along side Bill Nighy again in Wild Target, a comedy about an assassin who befriends and falls in love with his targets, rather than killing them, Rupert Grint also stars. She then appeared  in The Wolf Man opposite Benicio del Toro, who plays the monster reaking havoc on a small village.

In 2009 it was rumoured Emily would star in Iron Man 2, but Emily had to regrettably pull out due to commitments to Gullivers Travels which had a 2010 release. Emily also worked alongside Matt Damon that year in The Adjustment Bureau. She was then offered the female lead role in Captain America: The First Avenger but turned the role down.

2010 was a great year for Emily personally as she finally tied the knot with American actor John Krasinski. The coupled were married on 10th July 2010 in Como, Italy.

In January 2011, Emily began filming an American science-fiction film Looper, directed by Rian Johnson and co-starring Bruce Willis. She appeared in the British comedy film Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, directed by Lasse Hallström and co-starring Ewan McGregor and Kristin Scott Thomas. She also briefly appeared in The Muppets as Miss Piggy’s receptionist.

In 2012 film Emily was busy with the release of The Five-Year Engagement, directed by Nicholas Stoller and co-starring Jason Segel. Emily admitted that “We didn’t really want to do that Hollywood gloss of the romantic comedy that we’re used to seeing,” she says. “We wanted to make it really real and accessible and naturalistic, kind of messy.

She also took Your Sister’s Sister to the Sundance Film Festival, she plays a woman who invites her grieving ex-boyfriend to recuperate in her family’s cabin, only for him to drunkenly get involved with her gay sister. During filming Emily became close friends with Rosemarie DeWitt, Emily stated that she “had a really nice chemistry with her [DeWitt] and it was easy sharing the same bed and talking into the night, which is exactly the kind of thing I used to do with my sisters.”

2012 will also see the release of Arthur Newman, Golf Pro in which Emily stars along side Colin Firth. During the summer of 2012 Emily was busy training for All You Need is Kill, a high paced action film co-starring Tom Cruise.

(C) EmilyBluntFans.com – Last Updated: 22nd July 2012.