Emily Olivia Laura Blunt (born 23 February 1983) 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 an 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 in London's Wandsworth borough on 23 February 1983, the second of four children born to former actress and teacher Joanna Mackie and barrister Oliver Blunt QC. She is the paternal granddaughter of Major General Peter Blunt and paternal niece of Conservative MP Crispin Blunt. From the age of seven, Blunt began having difficulties with stuttering. She credits a school teacher for helping her manage the stutter through acting, and resolved her issue at the age of 14. She went on to sit on the board of directors for the American Institute for Stuttering. Blunt attended Ibstock Place School in Roehampton before moving on to Hurtwood House near Dorking, 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.