The hard-to-watch comedy movie Emily Blunt was forced into making: “It irked my heart”
Some actors can quietly achieve acclaim and fame without ever really making a large bleep on actor royalty radar. Throughout her career, Emily Blunt has seemed to radiate a kind of performative brilliance in nearly all of her acting ventures, proving time and time again her talent and nuance as a movie star. And she has managed to do it without ever becoming an all-singing, all-dancing leading cast member. Perhaps because of her humility off-screen, on-screen Blunt is able to assimilate into her production and deliver top work.
Right from her breakout role in The Devil Wears Prada, it was clear that the film world had a new type of star on its hands, and since then, she’s cemented her position in Hollywood as an actor of the highest order. Understated or otherwise, Blunt has now crafted a career that can deliver commercial success but also have critical thought.
Going on to deliver intense and captivating performances in the likes of Denis Villeneuve’s Sicario and John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place, Blunt proved that she is able to navigate pretty much any character or genre that is presented to her, and she has left an eternal mark on the Hollywood film industry.
Blunt once explained that her filmography is carefully constructed, and she takes pride in the movies that she takes on. Naturally, Blunt feels that an actor’s reputation is made up of the films they perform in, just as a musician is judged by their albums and with that in mind, she had always scrutinised the projects she’s been offered.
“I take such pride in the decisions that I make, and they mean so much to me, the films that I do,” Blunt once told Howard Stern. “I care very deeply, very, very much, about the choices I make. That’s all I have, the choices that I make. I love Iron Man, and when I got offered Black Widow, I was obsessed with Iron Man. I wanted to work with Robert Downey Jr — it would’ve been amazing.”
However, there was once an instance where Blunt had a contractual obligation to feature in a movie, one that she wasn’t entirely happy about having to star in. “I was contracted to do Gulliver’s Travels. I didn’t want to do Gulliver’s Travels,” she said. That was one instance where the rules dictated Blunt’s career, and her careful decision-making was put on the sidelines.
2010’s Gulliver’s Travels, directed by Rob Letterman, saw Jack Black play Lemuel Gulliver in the film adaptation of the classic satirical novel by Jonathan Swift. Black’s character finds himself in a land of miniature and giant people, and the film provides a modern twist on the beloved old narrative. The movie doubled its budget in box office revenue, making it a considerable commercial success. However, it was on the receiving end of rather disastrous critical reviews.
Even though Blunt wished she didn’t have to star in the movie, she still felt that the cast and crew were worth her time. “There were a lot of really lovely people who were heaven to work with,” she said. “I actually had a good time, a laugh, with all of them, but it irked my heart for it to have happened in the first place.”
It may have been an enjoyable experience to make, but that did not translate directly into a similar audience experience. The picture will go down as a misstep for the naturally comedic Blunt, and although her performance in the picture isn’t awfully noteworthy, for good or bad reasons, the movie will be a reminder to Blunt throughout her career to avoid being roped into making any picture she doesn’t want to.
