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On Thursday, the first day of the fourth Red Sea International Film Festival (RSIFF), Emily Blunt brought the star power to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. During a “In Conversation With” session, she talked about her career, including her run for the Oppenheimer awards, a potential “The Devil Wears Prada” sequel, and her work with her husband on A Quiet Place.
The British actress, who has received four BAFTA Film Awards nominations, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and an Academy Award nomination, amused the audience for over an hour while offering insightful commentary on the industry.
Blunt noted that her actress mother had to give up her dream of becoming an actor to some extent because she had four children. “People may find the industry to be harsh. For it, you need a helmet,” the celebrity underlined.
She added that although she stutters and was a shy child, creative endeavors serve as “an unlocking system.” She now helps kids who stutter because of this.
Speaking about her approach to roles, Blunt stated that she still finds it difficult to play a new character at first but has grown to like the challenge and experience. She remarked, “I think I get used to the idea that I get there somehow every time I am scared.” “Working with people who collaborate, are receptive, and are interested in what you have to offer is crucial to me.”
Speaking on her encounter with Oppenheimer, Blunt praised Christopher Nolan for his collaborative style, stating that “he has changed the face of cinema” and that this isn’t always the case with writers-directors because they frequently have very clear visions in their minds. When asked about the nickname “Barbenheimer” during Barbie and Oppenheimer’s successful box office run, she suggested that a studio hire the original creator of the term. Regarding the two movies, she praised Oppenheimer as “indelible” and advised viewers to see both.
Blunt also praised the incredible talent and efforts of Robert Downey Jr., whom she claimed to love, and Cillian Murphy, whom she referred to as a close friend. The actress also made a joke about how much Murphy deserves to be filmed with an Imax camera. Blunt also said, “He is the last person who should be famous.” “He is really terrible at it.”
“She is so graceful and silly and warm,” she told the audience Thursday, recalling an early stage encounter with Dame Judi Dench among other wonderful memories.
Another difficulty was that Pawel Pawlikowski’s My Summer of Love, Blunt’s first film that garnered her attention, was primarily improvised. The actress said that he would urge, “Talk about Nietzsche,” and she thought, “I don’t know anything about Nietzsche.”
When asked about The Devil Wars Prada, Blunt received a lot of applause. She recalled how she was told the opening weekend box office but wondered whether it was a decent figure. In response to a question regarding the film’s enduring impact on her, she stated that it was not just the first of multiple collaborations with Meryl Streep but also continues to have resonance today because co-star Stanley Tucci is her brother-in-law following his marriage to niece Felicity.
Blunt responded to the audience’s question on a potential sequel to The Devil Wears Prada by saying, “There (are) rumblings.” Things are moving around. However, I’m not sure if I can verify anything. However, we would all be thrilled.
Naturally, another important topic of conversation was A Quiet Place. “I was a little nervous to work with him,” referring to John Krasinski, the husband of actor, writer, producer, and director of The Office. Though the premise was straightforward and engaging, she thought the script was quite unique. Blunt first proposed a buddy for the part, but the friend chuckled, so the celebrity decided to play it herself. The response was insane. It reminded me of a rock concert. “It was this meteoric thing that none of us had expected,” she said.
Blunt joked that Krasinski could write for eight hours without food or interruption. She said, “He will brainstorm for weeks, storyboard it, and then write it in a week.” During such phase of the creative process, “he is frequently in a cave.”
What kinds of roles does she seek out? “I don’t want to say it again. The actress said on Thursday that she is seeking “unique voices” and “bold, wild ideas” in stories that allow for actual world-building, adding, “I’d like to find out how many crazy people I have inside of me.” She would rather play characters that are “way in over their head” than ones who know everything.
The actress emphasized that her roles have occasionally been very different from her own life, saying that during her pregnancy with one of her children, “I played a raging alcoholic” in The Girl on the Train.
Blunt recalls her response to being invited to play Mary Poppins: “Complete terror.” Instead of rewatching the iconic movie, she read Poppins to be ready. In contrast to Julie Andrews’s well-loved performance in the role, she discovered that the written character is “incredibly rude and vain and funny” and “acerbic,” which “gave me a different angle on her.”
Blunt also made people laugh when she once grinned broadly and said, “Oh my god, there is someone dressed as Mary Poppins,” looking out into the crowd. The hat just caught my eye. The crowded crowd gave Blunt a standing ovation when she initially took the stage.
Could she portray a superhero from DC or Marvel? Blunt stated that “I always thought Mary Poppins was my superhero,” but she would never rule anything out. She clarified: “She’s flawless, flies, and magical.” Of course, I’m always open, but I’ve never dabbled in superhero or comic book culture. However, I’m always available.
“I need you to put a call in to Bob Iger at Disney,” Blunt said when a small boy asked when he could see a Jungle Cruise sequel. When the child said he didn’t have the Disney CEO’s number, the actress smiled and said she would have to get it for him. “We would love to do it,” she added.
By revealing that she recently completed a “very intense” film with her Jungle Cruise co-star, The Smashing Machine, and that the professional wrestler-turned-movie star is “unrecognizable,” she alluded to the fact that “we” included Dwayne Johnson. She also warned that the boy would have to wait until he is older to see this upcoming film.
Blunt also mentioned during the discussion that although she enjoys editing scenes, she is producing more movies but is unsure if she wants to write or direct a full-length movie.
In response to a question about how British and Hollywood film sets vary, the celebrity said that everyone pitches in wherever they can, making British films feel less hierarchical.
Blunt also revealed to the Jeddah audience that she had just seen Emilia Pérez, Jacques Audiard’s awards season candidate, saying, “I just couldn’t believe what I was watching.” “It’s a totally unique experience,” she said, concluding that “you can’t call it a musical.”
The actress is one of several big Hollywood names set for the fourth edition of RSIFF. Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Nick Jonas, Andrew Garfield, Michelle Yeoh, Viola Davis, and Spike Lee, the jury president, are among the others.
RSIFF 2024 will formally kick off with the Thursday evening opening night gala screening of Karim Shenawi’s The Tale of Daye’s Family, which tells “the story of an 11-year-old Nubian albino with a beautiful voice who faces adversity due to his unique appearance,” according to a synopsis. “Abandoned by his father and bullied by his peers, he dreams of following in the footsteps of his idol, singer and actor Mohamed Mounir. Daye and his family travel dangerously from Aswan to Cairo when he has the opportunity to try out for The Voice.
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