Biography for
Emily Blunt More at IMDb Pro »

Date of Birth

23 February 1983, London, England, UK

Birth Name

Emily Olivia L. Blunt

Height

5' 7½" (1.71 m)

Mini Biography

Emily Blunt is a British actress best known for her roles in My Summer of Love (2004) and The Devil Wears Prada (2006).

She was born Emily Olivia L. Blunt 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 agent, Ken McReddie, 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', '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.

Blunt's career ascended to international fame after she starred as Isolda opposite Alex Kingston in Boudica (2003) TV series. 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), a story of two lonely girls from the opposite ends of the social heap. Emily Blunt and her co-star Nathalie Press shared an Evening Standard British Film award for Most Promising Newcomer. In 2005 she spent a few months in Australia filming Irresistible (2006) with Susan Sarandon and Sam Neill. 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's 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.

She continued the line of playing manipulative characters as Emily, a caustic put-upon assistant to Miranda, Meryl Streep's lead in The Devil Wears Prada (2006). 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; she is billed in two dramas opposite Tom Hanks. Blunt is also billed in the title role in the period drama The Young Victoria (2009).

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 has been in a relationship with Canadian jazz singer and actor Michael Bublé, since the two met backstage after one of his concerts in Australia, in 2005. Emily Blunt divides her time between her two residences, one is her parents home in London, and one is her new home in Vancouver, Canada.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Steve Shelokhonov

Trivia

Bought a $2.2 million new house in Vancouver where she lives with her partner, pop singer Michael Bublé.

Co-star Meryl Streep has praised Blunt as the best young actress she's worked with in some time, perhaps ever.

Named Best Female Scene-Stealer for her performance in The Devil Wears Prada (2006) by Entertainment Weekly.

She was told to lose weight for her role as Emily in The Devil Wears Prada (2006). She revealed this in a 2006 interview with Craig Ferguson. Co-star Anne Hathaway tells a similar story, and reports that she & Emily were always hungry on-set due to being kept on strict diets to maintain the rail-thin "super-model" look.

For her breakout performance in The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Emily convinced David Frankel that her character should be British rather than American. Emily also improvised many of her lines and told interviewers that she based the character on people she's met, but would never want to associate with.

In 2004, Emily shared the prestigious Evening Standard British Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer with Nathalie Press.

Acting and adopting new accents helped her to overcome a debilitating speech impediment at age 12.

Admits she and her The Devil Wears Prada (2006) co-star Stanley Tucci competed to see who could be more over-the-top in their scenes. Tucci admits his young co-star won "hands down".

At the 2002 Chichester Festival, Emily earned rave reviews playing Juliet in a production of Romeo and Juliet.

Divides time between London, Sydney and Vancouver where she lives with her partner Michael Bublé.

Favourite actresses are: Cate Blanchett, Emma Thompson, Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman.

Made her theatrical debut alongside Dame Judi Dench in The Royal Family. She had only six months of formal acting training before gaining the role of Gwen.

Susan Sarandon asked her to audition for the role of Mara in Irresistible (2006) after seeing My Summer of Love (2004).

Upon filming their first scene together for The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Meryl Streep laughed that Blunt should be given the film carbon copy, rather than steal the movie.

She is not related to singer James Blunt.

She is the great-niece of actor and retired Major-General Tony Richardson.

Grew up in Roehampton, London.

Good friends with The Devil Wears Prada (2006) co-star Anne Hathaway.

The new face of Max Mara add campaign (2007).

Her boyfriend Michael Bublé's wrote the hit single Everything for her. She is also on his album Call Me Irresponsible where she sings briefly at the end of the song Me And Mrs. Jones.

Was named as one of Screen International's 'Stars of Tomorrow' alongside James McAvoy, Noel Clarke, Emily Blunt, Michelle Ryan and Rupert Friend.

Personal Quotes

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)) "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) "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 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.

Where Are They Now

(October 2006) Filming The Great Buck Howard (2008) with John Malkovich and Tom Hanks.

(July 2008) In various locations across Europe filming 'Wolfman' with Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins

(September 2008) Filming Wild Target With Bill Nighy and Rupert Grint.

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