Emily Blunt

Some Lesser Known Facts About Emily Blunt

• Her mother gave up acting to parent full-time before Emily Blunt started school.

• As a little girl, Emily Blunt used to talk in a lot of funny voices because she used to think that she could speak more fluently if she didn’t sound like her.

  

• At the age of 12, a teacher overheard her making different impressions and suggested she try out for the class play and eventually, being part of her school production led to her love of theatre.

• Emily Blunt developed a stutter very early on in life and it was a debilitating type of stutter that caused her to barely hold a conversation. Her being part of her school theatre productions helped her with her stuttering too.

• She experienced stammering and stuttering at its worst between the ages of seven and 14.

• Talking about her stuttering in detail, Emily was quoted saying in an interview that
  

  It runs in my family. I had an uncle, cousin, grandfather who stuttered. It’s nothing to do with anxiety. It’s just a kind of brain-synapse thing that happens to people who are genetically predisposed to have it. The worst is having it at 12, 13.”

• Emily’s stammering and stuttering come back occasionally, mostly when she is on the phone or when she is particularly stressed or tired.

• Due to her condition in childhood, Emily Blunt was always intimidated by speaking and she used to spend most of her time watching people, as well as creating elaborate games for herself.

• After appearing in a school play at the Edinburgh Festival, Emily Blunt was discovered and signed by an agent for acting assignments and after finishing her school exams, Emily began auditioning for acting roles.

• At the age of 16, Emily Blunt was offered a record deal after a producer spotted her in the musical ‘Bliss’ at the Edinburgh Festival.

• Emily Blunt made her acting debut in a 2001 stage production of ‘The Royal Family’ which was a play written by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber. Emily was just 18 years old when she made her professional acting debut.

  

• The next year, Emily Blunt starred as Juliet in a production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (2002) at the Chichester Festival Theatre in England.

  

• In 2002, she played the character of Eugenie Loyer in Nicholas Wright’s English play titled ‘Vincent in Brixton.’

• In 2004, Emily Blunt played the character of Holly in the BBC Radio show titled ‘Bumps and Bruises.’

• In 2006, Emily Blunt was told to lose weight for her role as Emily in the American comedy-drama film titled ‘The Devil Wears Prada.’ Her co-star in the film Anne Hathaway and Emily were always hungry on-set due to being kept on strict diets to maintain the rail-thin super-model look.

• In 2006, Emily was cast in the second of two linked BBC television dramas titled ‘Gideon’s Daughter’ in which she played the character of Natasha. The TV series was telecast on BBC One.

  

• In the same year, Emily Blunt started working with the American Institute for Stuttering to help children overcome stuttering through educational resources and raise awareness of the realities of the condition.

• Emily Blunt is on the board of directors of the American Institute for Stuttering and she hosts a gala every year for the institute to raise funds for speech therapy scholarships for children and adults.

• In 2006, the American actress Susan Sarandon suggested her to audition for the Australian mystery drama film titled ‘Irresistible’ after being impressed by Emily’s performance in the American drama film titled ‘My Summer of Love’ (2004).

• For her performance in the American film titled The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Emily convinced the director of the film David Frankel that her character should be British rather than American. She also improvised many of her lines and stated that she based the character on people she’s met but she would never want to associate with the same.

• Emily was named the ‘Best Female Scene-Stealer’ for her performance in the film ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ (2006) by Entertainment Weekly magazine.

  

• In 2007, Emily was named the face of the Italian clothing brand ‘Max Mara’ ad campaign.

• Emily Blunt was initially offered the role of Sister James in the American drama film titled ‘Doubt’ (2008) but she suggested Amy Adams for the role as she felt the role suited Amy more. Amy went on to not only get the role but also was nominated for an Oscar at the 81st Academy Awards and she thanked Emily for suggesting her name for the film.

• Emily and the American actor and filmmaker John Krasinski were introduced to each other by a mutual friend/actress Anne Hathaway and they both started dating each other in November 2008. The couple got engaged in the month of August in 2009 and got married in Como, Italy in July 2010.

• She was ranked 19th in 2010 and 34th in 2009 as one of the most ‘Beautiful Famous Faces’ by ‘The Annual Independent Critics List of the 100 Most Beautiful Famous Faces From Around the World.’

• In 2009, Emily was ranked 58th in the 2009 Ask Men list of the Top 99 Most Desirable Women.

• In the same year, she was ranked 73rd in the 2009 FHM list of ‘100 Sexiest Women in the World.’

• In 2009, Emily lent her voice to the character of Juliet in the episode titled ‘Lisa the Drama Queen’ in the American animated sitcom titled ‘The Simpsons.’

• In the same year, she was cast for the lead role in the British period drama film titled ‘The Young Victoria’ which was based on the early life and reign of Queen Victoria, and her marriage to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

  

• In 2008, Emily was ranked 8th in the ‘Women We’d Love To Love’ by a poll of 4,000 gay women. Later in 2010, Emily Blunt was ranked 53rd in AskMen’s 2010 list of the Top 99 Most Desirable Women.

• In 2011, Emily was named the ambassador of the new Yves Saint Laurent fragrance named ‘Opium.’

• Emily Blunt was pregnant throughout filming the character of Baker’s Wife in The Walt Disney Company’s film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s musical titled ‘Into the Woods’ in 2013.

  

• Emily initially did not want to become part of the American post-apocalyptic horror film titled ‘A Quiet Place’ which was written and directed by her husband John Krasinski.

• After reading one particular scene from the script of the film ‘A Quiet Place,’ Emily decided to be part of the film as the scene represented some of her deepest fears of not being able to protect her children.

  

• Emily Blunt found out about her Golden Globe nomination for the American musical fantasy film titled ‘Into the Woods’ (2014) while she was having a massage in Dubai. She also served as a jury member of the Dubai Film Festival at the time.

• In 2015, Emily Blunt and her husband started working in support of ‘Family Reach,’ which is an organisation that helps financially support families affected by cancer.

• In the same year, she became an American citizen through naturalisation which made her a dual citizen of the UK and US. Her decision about dual citizenship was mainly for tax reasons. However, she likes to be identified as British.

• Emily Blunt was 4 months pregnant with her second daughter when she completed filming the American psychological thriller film titled ‘The Girl on the Train’ (2016).

  

• In 2016, Emily Blunt narrated a part of the English audiobook titled ‘Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives’ which was a work of speculative fiction by American neuroscientist David Eagleman.

• She had to decline the offer of being cast in the American epic neo-noir science fiction film titled ‘Blade Runner 2049’ as she was pregnant at the time when the film was getting shot.

• In 2018, Emily Blunt took over the role of the English actress Julie Andrews in the American musical fantasy comedy film titled ‘Mary Poppins Returns’ which was a sequel to the 1964 film ‘Mary Poppins.’

  

• She began filming Mary Poppins Returns (2018), just 6 months after giving birth. The production of the movie was postponed to accommodate Emily Blunt’s pregnancy.

• In 2020, Forbes ranked her as the sixth highest-paid actress in the world, with annual earnings of $22.5 million.

• In the same year, Emily Blunt was cast in the American web series titled ‘Some Good News’ in which she appeared as a guest.

• In 2020, she was cast in the American post-apocalyptic horror film titled ‘A Quiet Place Part II’ in which she played the character of Evelyn Abbott.

• In 2023, Emily Blunt was cast in the epic biographical thriller film titled ‘Oppenheimer’ which was based on the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American theoretical physicist who helped develop the first nuclear weapons during World War II. Emily played the character of Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer.

  

• Emily Blunt took a pay cut to work on the film ‘Oppenheimer’ and she ended up earning $4 million instead of her usual $10- to $20-million salary.

• Film ‘Oppenheimer’ has been Emily Blunt’s highest-grossing film, as of 2025.

• In 2024, Emily started promoting and raising funds for the ‘Malala Fund,’ which is a non-profit organisation that advocates for girls’ education and was co-founded by the Pakistani female education activist Malala Yousafzai.

• Emily Blunt occasionally consumes alcohol. Her mother used to recommend whisky when she was a teenager for when she had had a bad day. Recalling the instance, Emily was quoted saying in an interview that
  

  I feel like whisky is a great equaliser. I remember even as a teenager, if I’d had a shock or something at school, my mum would say, “Would you like a little nip of whisky?” And I’d drink from my grandfather’s whisky.”

• Emily follows a strict policy of never being absent from her daughters for more than a fortnight (14 days).

• She is an alto singer and has also showcased her vocal talents in several films including ‘Mary Poppins Returns’ (2018) and ‘Into the Woods’ (2014).

• Emily Blunt’s ex-boyfriend, Canadian singer Michael Bublé, wrote the hit single titled ‘Everything’ (2007) for her. She is also on his album titled ‘Call Me Irresponsible’ (2007) in which she also sings briefly at the end of the song titled ‘Me and Mrs. Jones.’

• She considers the American actress Anne Hathaway her best friend and her biggest supporter in life.

• Emily is a grade 8th cellist (a person who plays the instrument cello).

• Before entering the film industry, Emily Blunt had originally planned to go to university and study languages hoping to become a U.N. translator.

• Emily has a phobia of heights and while talking about it, she once said in an interview that
  

  I’m not amazing with heights and it was one of those things where they kind of [get] you up there and there’s the moment before they bring you down for the shot, and it seems like that moment extends for a forever time frame.”

• She also has a phobia of wearing Gloves. Once in a podcast, she stated how she used to scream in fear each time her mother tried to put on gloves in her hands as a child. Emily always used to find gloves disgusting and sickening. She also has a fear of Cockroaches.

• Emily Blunt is allergic to cats and horses and even mentioned in one of her interviews that she has to take high-dose prescription antihistamines when filming around horses. 

• Emily likes to decompress through daily sessions of transcendental meditation.

• She has an unusual talent for replicating a pigeon’s trill or whistling sound.

• She loves to spend time with animals.

• In a podcast, Emily Blunt mentioned that she got to know about her 2024 Oscar nomination right after she got done with picking her dog’s poop.

• Emily Blunt regrets not going to the university. She got her first movie role in ‘Boudica’ at the age of 20. She thinks that by skipping higher education, she missed out on the chance to learn about life and make mistakes away from the public eye. She was quoted saying in an interview that
  

  I just wish I’d had that experience and that time to really mess up, and to be around fellow people who had no idea that they were throwing caution to the wind.”

• Emily Blunt is not on social media and has stated she avoids it to maintain a sense of normalcy and avoid the negative effects of constant online exposure. She has no plans to be on social media any time soon.

• She has been part of many TV series titled ‘Foyle’s War’ (2003), ‘Henry VIII’ (2004), ‘Agatha Christie’s Poirot’ (2004), ‘Empire’ (2005), and ‘Lip Sync Battle’ (2015).

  

• Emily Blunt has been part of many English films and some of them include ‘The Great Buck Howard’ (2008), ‘Salmon Fishing in the Yemen’ (2011), ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ (2014), ‘Wild Mountain Thyme’ (2020), ‘Pain Hustlers’ (2023), and ‘The Fall Guy’ (2024).