The three words that will always make Emily Blunt refuse a role: “It’s the worst thing ever”
Emily Blunt has come a long way since she made her film debut in the British film My Summer of Love in 2004, playing a deceptive teenager alongside Natalie Press and Paddy Considine. Earning acclaim for her standout performance, she got her big break in Hollywood with a role in The Devil Wears Prada, playing the memorable Emily, a snooty and diet-obsessed assistant.
Since then, Blunt has opted for a wide variety of roles, from Young Victoria, Mary Poppins Returns, The Edge of Tomorrow, and Sicario to A Quiet Place, Jungle Cruise, and Oppenheimer. The actor’s ability to lead a film has cemented her as one of the most bankable actors currently working in Hollywood, but she’s also renowned for her ability to play complex characters, which has earned her nominations for the Oscars and the Baftas and a win at the Golden Globes.
Despite her range and apparent interest in everything from musicals to action to horror, Blunt is cautious of a certain kind of character that has often been offered to her. If she sees a character in a script described with three specific words, she’s ready to throw it in the bin.
“Strong female lead.” These are the words that make Blunt shudder, even though, on the surface, this sounds like the perfect kind of character. Don’t we want more strong female leads in movies? Blunt is right, though; the type of characters usually dubbed as ‘strong female leads’ are far from the complex and multidimensional characters Blunt likes to play, with the archetype leaving Blunt “bored.”
The thing is, the rise of the ‘strong female lead’ in modern Hollywood suggests that women can’t be seen as strong just as they are – they have to take on traits that make them seem tough and perhaps a bit masculine, with the ability to fight and withstand danger without showing vulnerability. This idea of a strong woman is inherently patriarchal and ignores the fact that being a strong woman comes in many different forms. These kinds of characters are often stripped of their femininity, incorrectly emphasising the idea that femininity does not equal strength, which is, quite frankly, ridiculous.
Talking to The Telegraph, Blunt said, “It’s the worst thing ever when you open a script and read the words: ‘strong female lead’. That makes me roll my eyes – I’m already out. I’m bored. Those roles are written as incredibly stoic; you spend the whole time acting tough and saying tough things.”
‘Strong female leads’ are typically written by male filmmakers who have a warped idea of what a ‘strong woman’ looks like. In many ways, this supposedly feminist archetype is hardly empowering at all, with most of these kinds of female characters standing as flimsily written and devoid of true personality. This trope presents an unrealistic standard of the human experience, forgetting that we can all simultaneously possess a contradictory collection of emotions and feelings.
Thus, Blunt has always ensured that the roles she plays are real and human, even if they’re put into unlikely scenarios. The actor has no time for ‘strong female leads’ with no flaws, no vulnerability, and no relatability – she’s got much bigger ambitions than that.
