Emily Olivia Laura Blunt is a British actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for three British Academy Film Awards. Forbes ranked her as one of the highest-paid actresses in the world in 2020.

Blunt made her acting debut in a 2001 stage production of The Royal Family, and portrayed Catherine Howard in the television miniseries Henry VIII (2003). She made her feature film debut in the drama My Summer of Love (2004). Blunt's breakthrough came in 2006 with her starring roles in the television film Gideon's Daughter and the comedy-drama film The Devil Wears Prada. The former won her a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her profile continued to grow with leading roles in the period film The Young Victoria (2009), the romantic comedy Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2011), the science fiction films The Adjustment Bureau (2011), Looper (2012) and Edge of Tomorrow (2014), and the musical Into the Woods (2014).

Blunt received critical acclaim for playing a idealistic FBI agent in the crime film Sicario (2015), an alcoholic in the psychological thriller The Girl on the Train (2016), and a survivalist mother in her husband John Krasinski's horror film A Quiet Place (2018), for which she won a SAG Award for Best Supporting Actress. She has since starred in the sequels Mary Poppins Returns (2018) and A Quiet Place Part II (2021), the fantasy adventure Jungle Cruise (2021), the western television miniseries The English (2022), and portrayed Katherine Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan's biographical film Oppenheimer (2023).

Early life

Emily Olivia Laura Blunt was born on 23 February 1983 in the London Borough of Wandsworth, the second of four children born to Joanna Mackie, a former actress and teacher, and barrister Oliver Blunt, QC. Her siblings are Felicity, Sebastian, and Susannah. Her grandfather was Major General Peter Blunt, and one of her paternal uncles is Crispin Blunt, Conservative Member of Parliament for Reigate.

From the age of seven until fourteen, Blunt had difficulties with stuttering. She credits a school teacher for helping her manage the stutter through acting. She went on to sit on the board of directors for the American Institute for Stuttering. Blunt attended Ibstock Place School in Roehampton, southwest London and, at age 16, went to Hurtwood House near Dorking, Surrey, a private sixth form college known for its performing arts programme. There, she was discovered and signed by an agent.

Career

2001–2004: Early work

In November 2001, Blunt made her professional debut in Peter Hall's production of the play The Royal Family, in which she played the role of the granddaughter Gwen to Judi Dench's Fanny Cavendish. Critic Tom Keatinge hailed the production, writing that "Peter Hall's direction and Anthony Ward's tremendous set combine with all this to make The Royal Family a terrific night's entertainment", and that "it provides a vehicle for acting of the finest quality, with strong performances from the whole ensemble". For her performance, Blunt was named "Best Newcomer" by the Evening Standard. She went on to perform as Eugenie in Nicholas Wright's Vincent in Brixton at the National Theatre, and as Juliet in Indhu Rubasingham's production of Romeo and Juliet at Chichester Festival Theatre, both in 2002. In 2003, 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.

2005–2010: The Devil Wears Prada and breakthrough

Blunt starred in the British television drama Gideon's Daughter, based on an original screenplay written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff, where she played the troubled only child of New Labour spin doctor Gideon Warner. The film premiered at the Hamptons International Film Festival in 2005, and debuted on British television in February 2006. The drama was praised for its overall "sterling performances," and Blunt won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film.

She then featured in the comedy-drama The Devil Wears Prada, set in the fashion world in New York City. Blunt played Emily, the senior assistant of Runway magazine editor-in-chief Miranda Priestly. The film was a critical and commercial success, grossing $326 million. Blunt's performance was praised, with Clifford Pugh of the Houston Chronicle asserting that "[Blunt] has many of the film's best lines and steals nearly every scene she's in." Blunt was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture for her performance. She attended the 79th Academy Awards where she co-presented the Academy Award for Best Costume Design with co-star Anne Hathaway, with both acting as their characters from the film. Blunt then appeared in the independent mystery drama Irresistible.

2011–2014: Science-fiction and comedy films

In 2011, Blunt starred in the British romantic comedy-drama Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, directed by Lasse Hallström. She played a financial adviser who recruits a fisheries expert to help realise a sheikh's vision of bringing the sport of fly fishing to the Yemen desert, resulting in a spiritual journey for both in the process. The film premiered at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival, receiving positive reviews, as did Blunt's performance. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times noted "Blunt and [co-star Ewan McGregor] are two of the most gifted and attractive actors working today, able to play off each other with great style..." Blunt was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical for her performance. Also that year, she made a cameo appearance in Disney's The Muppets, as Miss Piggy's receptionist, and starred in the independent comedy-drama Your Sister's Sister. In November 2011, Blunt was named the ambassador of the new Yves Saint Laurent fragrance Opium. In 2014, Blunt starred in Edge of Tomorrow, a film adaptation of the Japanese novel All You Need Is Kill, written by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. Blunt played Sergeant Rita Vrataski, a Special Forces warrior tasked with training a public relations officer to defeat invading extraterrestrials. Blunt trained three months for her role, "focusing on everything from weights to sprints to yoga, aerial wire work and gymnastics", and studying Krav Maga. The film was commercially successful, grossing $370,541,256, and earned positive reviews. 

For her performance, Blunt won the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress in an Action Movie. A sequel is currently in development, with Blunt expected to reprise her role.

2015–present: Established actress

In 2015, Blunt starred in the crime thriller Sicario, directed by Denis Villeneuve. Blunt played Kate Macer, a principled FBI agent assigned to take down the leader of a powerful Mexican drug cartel. The film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, where it received critical acclaim. In 2016, Blunt co-starred in The Huntsman: Winter's War, which serves as both a prequel and sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman (2012). The film, directed by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, was a box-office bomb and was mostly dismissed by critics. Blunt then headlined the mystery thriller The Girl on the Train, directed by Tate Taylor. Based on Paula Hawkins's best-selling novel of the same name, Blunt played Rachel Watson, an alcoholic who becomes involved in a missing person investigation. While the film received mixed reviews from critics, who felt it failed to live up to the novel, Blunt's performance earned considerable praise.

After providing her voice for the 2017 animated films My Little Pony: The Movie and Animal Crackers, Blunt made her return to live action in her husband John Krasinski's horror film A Quiet Place, which follows a family being tormented by monstrous creatures that hunt by sound. A Quiet Place served as the opening night film at the 2018 South by Southwest film festival, where it received critical acclaimed. In 2020, Blunt guest-starred in her husband's web series Some Good News, which began streaming on YouTube during the COVID-19 pandemic. She starred in the romantic drama Wild Mountain Thyme – based on John Patrick Shanley's play Outside Mullingar. The part required her to sport an Irish accent; neither the film nor her accent were well received. In the same year, Forbes ranked her as the sixth highest-paid actress in the world, with annual earnings of $22.5 million.

Blunt reprised her role in the horror sequel A Quiet Place Part II (2021), which was released after a year-long delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It became one of the first major Hollywood films to be released theatrically since the beginning of the pandemic. Peter Bradshaw bemoaned that the "excellent" Blunt did not have more screen time. As with the first film, it also emerged as a commercial success.Later that year, Blunt starred in the adventure film Jungle Cruise, based on the eponymous amusement ride. It was released simultaneously in theatres and digitally on Disney+ Premier Access. 
In Christopher Nolan's biographical film Oppenheimer (2023), starring Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, Blunt portrayed the eponymous scientist's wife, Katherine. She took a pay cut to work on the film, earning $4 million in lieu of her usual $10–20 million salary. Jolin believed that her character "busts out of the supportive/suffering wife archetype" and took note of her "rousing scenes in an intense verbal duel with bullish lawyer Roger Robb". With a worldwide gross of over $850 million, Oppenheimer emerged as Blunt's highest-grossing release.

Blunt will next star in David Yates's crime drama film Pain Hustlers for Netflix, and in David Leitch's action film The Fall Guy.

Personal life

Blunt had a three-year relationship with Canadian singer Michael Bublé. They met in 2005, while backstage at the Australian television Logie Awards in Melbourne. They later shared a home in Vancouver, British Columbia, before breaking up in 2008.

In November 2008, Blunt began dating American actor John Krasinski. They became engaged in August 2009, and married on 10 July 2010 in Como, Italy. They reside in the Brooklyn Heights neighbourhood of New York City, and have two daughters, one born in 2014 and the other in 2016.

In 2012, Blunt became the sister-in-law of actor Stanley Tucci when he married her sister Felicity.

In August 2015, Blunt became a naturalised citizen of the United States. She took dual citizenship in the United States, suggesting the status helped her tax situation, but that she feels "conflicted" about it.

Acting credits and awards

According to the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes and the box office site Box Office Mojo, Blunt's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful films include The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Looper (2012), Edge of Tomorrow (2014), Into the Woods (2014), Sicario (2015), The Girl on the Train (2016), A Quiet Place (2018), Mary Poppins Returns (2018), A Quiet Place Part II (2021), and Oppenheimer (2023).