Born: Emily Olivia Leah Blunt
Birth Date: February 23, 1983
Birth Place: Roehampton, London, England, UK
Emily Blunt shot to international prominence with her lead role in the multi-award-winning British movie My Summer of Love, filmed in the summer of 2003. Blunt played the mysterious and priv ileged Tamsin, who becomes the obsession of a local girl, in this intoxi – cating romance from Pawel Pawlikowski. The Independent praised her “genuine grace and predatory charisma.” Blunt won the Most Promising Newcomer award at the 2005 Evening Standard British Film Awards and was nominated in the Best Newcomer category at the 2004 British Independent Film Awards.
The critically acclaimed Gideon’s Daughter, in which Blunt starred alongside Bill Nighy and Miranda Richardson, was shot in October 2004. The film was first broadcast on BBC One in February 2006 and appeared on BBC America in April of the same year. Blunt won a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television for her performance.
In 2005, Blunt flew to New York to start work on The Devil Wears Prada. An adaptation of the hugely popular Lauren Weisberger novel, the film features Blunt as the intensely neurotic Emily Chalton, senior assistant at Runway Magazine, who is permanently on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Directed by David Frankel and co-starring Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci, the film opened to great acclaim in the U.S. in June 2006 and made more than $125 million at the U.S. box office.
The critics shared the audience’s love for The Devil Wears Prada and for Blunt: The Los Angeles Times called her “scene-stealing” while the Telegraph praised her performance as “terrific” and “a catty delight.” Blunt was nominated in the Breakout Female category at the 2006 Teen Choice Awards for her performance and was also nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category at the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs for the role. The movie was released worldwide in October 2006 and made more than $320 million at the box office. Blunt went on to be nominated for the Rising Star Award at the 2007 BAFTAs.
In August 2006, Blunt started work on The Great Buck Howard, written and directed by Sean McGinly and co-starring Tom Hanks, John Malkovich and Colin Hanks. Blunt plays Valerie, a self-assured publicist hired by a luckless magician trying to reinvigorate his career. The film premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and was released in the U.S. in March 2009. Following this, Blunt filmed Dan in Real Life, with Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche and Dane Cook. It was released in the U.S. on October 26, 2007, and in the U.K. on January 11, 2008.
Blunt went on to make The Jane Austen Book Club. She starred alongside Maria Bello, Kevin Zegers and Hugh Dancy. The film was released in the U.S. on September 21, 2007, followed by a U.K. release on November 16, 2007.
Blunt next spent two months in Albuquerque, New Mexico, filming Sunshine Cleaning. The film was directed by Christine Jeffs and tells the story of two sisters (Blunt and Amy Adams) who start up a successful business cleaning up crime scenes. It was released in the U.S. in March 2009. Blunt was nominated for a Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actress for the role.
In late 2007, Blunt was seen in Mike Nichols’ Charlie Wilson’s War, with Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman. The film was released in the U.S. in December 2007.
Blunt next filmed the Martin Scorsese-produced biopic The Young Victoria. She plays Britain’s Queen Victoria in the early stages of her life, and the film is written by Julian Fellowes and directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. The cast also includes Miranda Richardson, Jim Broadbent and Rupert Friend. The film was released in the U.K. in March 2009, earning Blunt high praise from U.K. film critics. Wendy Ide atThe Times wrote, “Rising star Emily Blunt plays the cloistered young monarch with a playfulness and a lively spirit.” Blunt received Golden Globe Award and Critics’ Choice Movie Award nominations for Best Actress for her performance. In February 2010, Blunt was seen in the much anticipated period thriller The Wolfman. Directed by Joe Johnston, Blunt starred opposite Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins, and played the female lead role, Gwen Conliffe, a woman mourning the death of her husband who becomes close to his brother as they hunt the werewolf that killed him.
Next, Blunt voiced the female lead role of Juliet in Disney’s 3D animation Gnomeo & Juliet, with James McAvoy voicing Gnomeo. The film is an animated retelling of William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” using gnomes. Directed by Kelly Asbury, the film’s soundtrack is written and produced by Elton John. It will be released internationally by E1 Entertainment and is scheduled for release in the U.K. and U.S. on February 11, 2011.
In December 2010, Blunt was seen playing Princess Mary in a retelling of Jonathan Swift’s iconic novel, “Gulliver’s Travels.” Blunt starred along side Jack Black and Jason Segel in the film, which follows the modern-day adventures of travel writer Lemuel Gulliver.
In early 2010, Blunt filmed Salmon Fishing in the Yemen in London, Scotland and Morocco. She costars, opposite Kristin Scott Thomas, Ewan McGregor and Amr Waked, in this remake of Paul Torday’s bestselling novel, telling the story of Dr. Alfred Jones (McGregor), a fisheries scientist, who finds himself reluctantly involved in a project to bring salmon fishing to the Highlands of the Yemen. Blunt plays Harriet Chetwode-Talbot, the representative of fly fishing- obsessed sheikh (Waked). The film is directed by Lasse Hallström and slated for release in 2012. In October 2010, Blunt was cast in Lynn Shelton’s as-yet-untitled project. The cast also includes Rachel Weisz and Mark Duplass. Blunt and Weisz play sisters who fight over Duplass. The film is being shot in Washington and will be released in 2011.
Also in October 2010, Blunt was cast as the female lead in the time-travel thriller Looper. The film is centered on a group of killers who send bodies of their victims back in time. Blunt will play a single mother forced to go to great lengths to protect her son. Her co-stars are Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, with Rian Johnson directing. It is sched uled to begin production in Louisiana in January and slated for a late 2011 release.
Blunt recently joined the cast of Disney’s The Muppets. Ricky Gervais, Alan Arkin, Jack Black, Billy Crystal, Zach Galifianakis and Jean-Claude Van Damme, are also lending their voices to the latest installment, which sees the Muppets reunite to put on a show in order to save their movie studio from a developer. James Bobin is directing and the script was written by Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller. The film is due for release in the U.S. in December 2011 and the U.K. in February 2012.
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