Emily Blunt: ‘I didn’t want to play a damsel in distress. I got to be a full metal bitch’

Last August Emily Blunt became a naturalised citizen of the United States. Sure why not? She is, after all, chums with George and Amal; her husband, the actor John Krasinski, is American, and she lives in Ojai, California.

Still, when she committed the heinous crime of making a light-hearted remark about the process – she joked that she regretted her decision to switch nationality after watching the Republican party candidates debate – the reliably flag-hugging anchors at Fox News were quick to respond with lashings of ire.

“Well you know what, why don’t you leave Hollywood, California, and let some of the American women take the roles that you’re getting because American citizens are watching your movies and lining your pockets,” blared Fox’s Anna Kooiman.

“I was joking,” sighs Blunt. “It was all taken wildly out of context. The thing is, I do take the entire process seriously. I’ve grown up having a queen. And while you don’t actually have to turn your back on her and she’s not actually in the room, it did make me a little sad.”

It has been a rather unfortunate storm in a teacup, particularly when the same actor ought to be making headlines for receiving the Kickass Award for Best Female Action Star for her work on Edge of Tomorrow from the 2014 Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards. Is this the best award ever?

"Oh, I think so," cheers Blunt. "It's all downhill after that. I always said I would never do an action film because I didn't want to end up playing a damsel in distress. But with Edge of Tomorrow, I got to be a full metal bitch. It was very satisfying."

Kick-ass

Blunt is back in kick-ass mode for the upcoming Sicario, a storming action flick from Prisoners director Denis Villeneuve. The newly minted English-American stars as an FBI special agent on a mission to take down a Mexican drug cartel. She cuts a tiny figure in a group that includes Josh Brolin, Benicio del Toro and dozens of unfeasibly ripped gentlemen.

It's her second time working with del Toro after The Wolfman, which I suppose gets him on the Christmas card list.

“Oh no,” says Blunt. “I’m terrible with Christmas cards. But I do occasionally send him a rude email.”

It is a markedly butch film, not least because it makes Michael Mann's Heat seem like The Bridges of Madison County. I'm wondering if she was able to call upon some dormant military gene? She is the grand-daughter of the late George medal recipient Maj-Gen Peter Blunt.

Dad-friendly

“I do wonder what my grandfather would have made of it,” she says. “My dad is seeing the film tonight. I think he’s going to love it. I’m not normally that confident. But it’s very dad-friendly. I’m not sure I have a dormant gene. I don’t really like shooting guns, but I needed to be very comfortable with them and with the entire choreography of the Swat team. I had to train with FBI and DEA teams. But it was very effective just being around those massive Delta Force guys.”

I can't help but wonder how the screenplay read, given that Sicario relies on scowls, swagger and Jóhann Jóhannsson's thundering score where most movies would have unnecessary exposition.

“You’re right,” she says. “It was very hard to guess where Denis was going. So much of the film happens in the editing and the camera work. But that was so rewarding and liberating for us. You’re not given a huge back story about each character, so you have to find the character on your own. It’s a gripping thriller so you want the audience to be leaning into it. And that’s part of that idea.”

Stutter

Acting, says Blunt, happened entirely by accident. Growing up in London – the second of four children born to QC Oliver Blunt and teacher Joanna – Blunt had a stutter until a teacher recommended that she try acting as a form of therapy. She was spotted by an agent while still at school and within a year had made her stage debut in The Royal Family with Judi Dench, a gig that landed the debutant a Best Newcomer award from the Evening Standard. There was more acclaim for her film role in Pawel Pawlikowski's much-admired drama, My Summer of Love; and even more love for her eye-rolling mean girl in The Devil Wears Prada.

Last year, she was reunited with her Prada co-star Meryl Streep for Disney's big-screen adaptation of the musical Into the Woods. It's quite a leap to go from stammering to Sondheim.

“Ah. But the irony is that – like a lot of people with stammers – I could always sing,” says Blunt, who sits on the board of directors at the American Institute for Stuttering. “But it was still the scariest thing I’ve ever done. It’s so incredibly personal to sing in front of other people. The layers are all stripped away and it’s like you’re standing there without any clothes.”

On that note, she'll be back in period costume for The Huntsman, a prequel to the 2012 film Snow White and the Huntsman, due for release next spring.

"One of the many things I loved about Sicario was the clothes," she laughs. "I mean the Swat gear was ridiculously heavy but the T-shirt she slobs around the house in was heaven. I wanted to keep that shirt."

That's odd. Maybe it's the Prada connection but I didn't have her pegged as the pyjama type.

“Oh I am. I enjoy dressing up and walking the red carpet when I’m promoting films. But during the day, I’m only ever one small step away from pyjamas.”

In this spirit she’s enjoying the nappy changes and feeding cycles that come with motherhood. Hazel Blunt Krasinski was born in February of last year.

“She’s still quite young but I’m really looking forward to the school runs. I’m so excited. When you do what we do for a living, school runs are glamorous. I crave anything mundane or normal. I love routine.”

Sicario opens October 8th