Emily Blunt’s beauty can be described as ethereal. Her face and charms would easily fit in any period movie where you can imagine her character decked in long gowns and jewels. Instead, the actress seems drawn to characters that are damaged but strong and resilient.
It’s a choice that the Sicario star has pretty much admitted to.
In a recent interview, the 32-year-old Blunt says that while she has been offered parts where the characters “don’t have their s*** together,” she’s not interested in playing them.
“As I get older, I just love seeing people that don’t have their head in their hands,” she admits. “I like seeing people who cope.”
Emily Blunt is all smiles on the red carpet #Cannes2015 premiere of #Sicario! pic.twitter.com/MgZljhXLUZ
— Sicario (@SicarioMovie) May 19, 2015
Her choices probably also stems from the fact that she’s now a mother and has begun to think about what she’s putting out there and “what effect will it have.”
Her role as Kate Macy in her latest film Sicario has already affected and contributed, in its own little way, to changing how Hollywood actresses are perceived.
The film follows FBI agent Kate Macy as she joins a covert task force that’s tasked to track and take down the leader of a Mexican drug cartel. As the only female member of the team, Blunt’s character is exposed to the group’s questionable methods and is also forced to question her own morality and choices.
Director Denis Villeneuve admitted that people were a bit wary of the screenplay because the lead character was a female.
“I know that the screenwriter was asked several times to re-write the part,” the BAFTA nominated director explained. “When I got on board I embraced the script as it was.”
The Looper actress says she didn’t try to make her character more masculine, even though she was “definitely trying to survive in a male-driven industry.”
Much like what Blunt and other actresses do in Hollywood.