Emily Blunt is on a roll
Thursday, September 24, 2015 at 1:00PM Here's Murtada on a long time TFE favorite...
Blunt earlier this week at Sicario's London premiere
It’s a good week to be Emily Blunt. Her latest movie Sicario opened to strong reviews and scored the year’s best on screen average for a limited release indicating it might become a substantial hit when it goes wide. She’s one of the favorites mentioned for that Mary Poppins sequel. And her next movie The Girl on the Train just got a couple of high profile co-stars; an Oscar winner and Captain America himself.
Jared Leto and Chris Evans are set to join Blunt, Rebecca Ferguson and Haley Bennett in the adaptation of the best selling novel that will be directed by The Help’s Tate Taylor. The book, written by Paula Hawkins, is a publishing sensation, a la Gone Girl, having spent 20 weeks at the top of the hardback fiction charts. The plot is about alcoholic Rachel Watson (Blunt) who still pines for her ex husband (Evans) who is now married to Anna (Ferguson) while concocting a fantasy about the seemingly perfect couple (Bennett & Leto) she watches from the train on her daily commute. The story chronicles Bennett’s character disappearance and its effect on both Rachel and Anna. Though the book was set in London and Blunt will keep her English accent, the movie has been transplanted to the suburbs of New York City.
Clockwise L-R : Bennett, Leto, Ferguson and Evans
It’s exciting to see Blunt mixing it up. It would’ve been easy to be pigeonholed in action roles after her much lauded turn in Edge of Tomorrow. Even Sicario in which she plays an FBI agent is very different than her “full metal bitch” in Edge. Her Kate Macer is aces at her job but also overwhelmed by the grim reality of the drug trade along the US-Mexico border, a more nuanced characterization than the straight action-heroine of Edge. In a recent interview with Indiewire she talks about why only a handful of women are sought for all the action roles :
I think it’s because the list is very short, because we don’t see women in these kind of roles. So I think as soon as you do a role like that, like Charlize did or I did, or Rebecca’s done -- there’s like four of us or something. And Jen Lawrence. So I feel like us four, we get talked about -- and Angie, Angelina. So it’s a list of like, four women who are going to be considered for those kind of roles. So I think that’s why the rumors happen, because they’re like, "who else? Surely not another girl can wield a gun," you know what I mean? "A woman doing push-ups? There’s only one who can do that."
Sicario should take her to the next level, whether or not it brings her that first Oscar nomination. The film succeeds as both a vivid and violent thriller and a brilliant character study. At the center of it is Blunt’s Kate Macer who is by turns ferocious, steely, determined and also vulnerable and uncertain. It’s a great showcase of not only Blunt’s giant talent but Denis Villeneuve’s assured direction. Excellent word of mouth should translate into box office gold soon.
Have you seen Sicario yet? Isn't it funny that the two actresses who stole movies from Tom Cruise are going to be on screen together?
Reader Comments (13)
Sigourney gave all thos gals the blueprint for all Action Heroines period
I've always thought she deserved better roles than what she's getting. Her career has been such a slow burn but I'm ecstatic her star seem to be rising. She does so much with so little.
I love any write-up that deals with Emily Blunt, but I beg to differ on her work in "Edge of Tomorrow" being a straight-action heroine. Yes, she nails the ferocity of the character, and she fully earns that "full metal bitch" title. But there's more to her than just that, and I think it's perfectly nuanced. She plays every beat for real, and you can see her character laden with the burden of PTSD from those past time-loops. Plus, her eyes alone are doing so much (conveying back stories; communicating Rita's own thoughts and feelings about the outcome of every mission; and she takes scenes in different directions through sheer mood and personality). It's a marvel of acting. (If you couldn't already tell, I'm crazy about this performance.)
I really don't understand why it's taken her almost 10 years to start living up to the promise she showed in The Devil wears Prada . But, then, better later than never!
Carlos -- i think it was because she got married and had kids right after that, right?
Overheard (in the men's room) after Sicario screening: "I don't want to see another movie with her [Blunt] toting an automatic rifle after this and the one with Tom Cruise. It's ridiculous! The weapons look like they weigh more than she does..."
I saw his point, but I begged to differ. For several reasons, one of which is subtly addressed in one scene in Sicario.
BVR - I too think Blunt's great in Edge. What I meant by "more nunanced" is about the writing of the characters and the type of film. Sicario has a lot of depth that Edge doesn't.
I thought she'd only recently had kids (I remember her mentioning in an interview that she was pregnant with her first at the end of shooting Edge and beginning of Into the Woods, so relatively recently). I mean, it's not like she hasnt been working all this years, she just didnt have the right projects (for the most parts). Whether that's bad choices or lack of opportunities is hard to tell. Glad to see she's doing so well now that she's pushing her persona a bit with action, musical, etc.
She has always been such a favourite of mine, she is such fun to watch in anything she does.
I think it's a little weird that people are finally noticing her, but it shows the power of mainstream films. She was equally wonderful in "The Young Victoria". But if you put her with Tom Cruise and dress her in body armor - then she gets noticed.
Emily Blunt's had some great roles in some good films--Young Victoria, Looper, Sunshine Cleaning, Your Sister's Sister, My Summer of Love, and some good roles in some not-so-great films--Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, Five-Year Engagement, The Wolfman, Adjustment Bureau. Don't think she's made any "bad" choices, and is doing just fine for a 32 year old actress, balancing work and family. Maybe it's better to rise slowly than to get on a crazy bullet train to media-frenzyland? Plus, lately she's one of the best talk show guests in Hollywood, and totally sells whatever project she's in. Haven't seen Sicario yet, but I've enjoyed her performances in just about everything else.
For what is worth, I loved her Baker's Wife in Into the Woods. And I'm happy she's getting more and more noticed. A fan since Prada, and I'm also crazy about her performance in Edge of Tomorrow. Yay Blunt!
Reading Girl on the Train - Em is going to be so so good as Rachel. Perfect casting.
Was The Help Taylor's first movie? He will be able to do a good job with this I think.
The suburbs of New York City is great but I really would of preferred The Girl on The Train being set in the Yemen.