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| Emily Blunt |
Emily Blunt was born 23 February 1983 in Roehampton, London, England. She is the second of four children born to Janice M. (née Dixon), an English teacher and former actress, and barrister Oliver Simon Peter Blunt, QC, one of the highest-profile barristers in the United Kingdom Her grandfather was Major-General Peter Blunt and one of her paternal uncles is Crispin Blunt, Conservative Member of Parliament for Reigate.
At the age of 16, Emily Blunt went to Hurtwood House, a private sixth-form college known for its performing arts programme. There, she was discovered by an agent. Blunt made her professional debut in Bliss, a new musical written by Paul Sellar, at the 2000 Edinburgh Fringe while she was still an A-level student. She went on to perform at the National Theatre and at Chichester Festival Theatre.
Film career
In 2003, Emily Blunt made her screen debut in the British television drama Boudica, about the life of the ancient Celtic warrior-queen who fought the Romans. That same year, she was praised for her performance as the 16th-century queen Catherine Howard in the two-part British television drama Henry VIII.
In 2004, Emily Blunt delivered her breakout performance as Tamsin in the dark British film, My Summer of Love, a story of deception and lesbian love in the English countryside. She shared an Evening Standard British Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer with co-star Natalie Press.
In 2005, Emily Blunt co-starred with Bill Nighy and Miranda Richardson in the British television drama Gideon's Daughter, an original screenplay written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff, in which she played the troubled only child of New Labour spin doctor Gideon Warner, played by Nighy. Blunt won a Golden Globe for her performance.
In 2006, Emily Blunt appeared opposite Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway in the box-office success The Devil Wears Prada. Streep and Hathaway received most of the critical attention initially, but Blunt proved to be equally memorable with Entertainment Weekly naming her the Best Female Scene-Stealer in their end-of-summer special issue. She appeared at the 79th Academy Awards where she co-presented the award for best costume design with her Prada co-star Hathaway. Blunt spoke about the weight loss, claiming she had to go "painfully thin." That same year, Emily Blunt co-starred with Susan Sarandon in the independent drama Irresistible. Following production, Sarandon strongly suggested to director David Auburn that he cast Blunt in his next film, The Girl in the Park— a role she did not accept.
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| Emily Blunt |
In 2009, Emily Blunt played Queen Victoria in The Young Victoria, directed by Jean-Marc Vallée and written by Julian Fellowes. She also starred in the Toby Spanton-directed short film Curiosity. She was director Jon Favreau's first choice to play the Black Widow in Iron Man 2 but scheduling conflicts with Gulliver's Travels forced her to cede the role to Scarlett Johansson.
In 2010, Emily Blunt co-starred with Benicio del Toro and Anthony Hopkins in the big-budget movie The Wolfman, which was released on 12 February. She also starred in Gulliver's Travels and in The Adjustment Bureau, alongside Matt Damon, as a ballet dancer "being mysteriously kept apart" from Damon's character. Blunt was offered the female lead in the Captain America: The First Avenger movie but turned it down.
In January 2011, Emily Blunt began filming an American science-fiction film Looper, directed by Rian Johnson and co-starring Bruce Willis. She recently completed work on an upcoming British comedy film Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, directed by Lasse Hallström and co-starring Ewan McGregor and Kristin Scott Thomas. She also completed work on the upcoming film The Five-Year Engagement, directed by Nicholas Stoller and co-starring Jason Segel. She is scheduled to star in "Arthur Newman, Golf Pro" with Colin Firth in 2012.
Personal life
Emily Blunt had a three-year relationship with Canadian singer Michael Bublé. The couple, who met in Melbourne backstage at the Australian television Logie Awards in 2005, later shared a home in Vancouver, Canada. They broke up in the summer of 2008.
In November 2008, Emily Blunt began dating American actor John Krasinski. On 28 August 2009, Blunt and Krasinski announced their engagement. On 10 July 2010, they married in Como, Italy. In attendance were family friends George Clooney, Matt Damon, Maya Rudolph, Meryl Streep, B.J. Novak, and Anne Hathaway. It was Hathaway who originally set the two up on a date when her and Blunt co-starred in The Devil Wears Prada.
