Emily Blunt at "The Young Victoria" press junket in New York City
Emily Blunt is ending 2009 on a high note. She’s gotten critical acclaim for her films "Sunshine Cleaning" and "The Young Victoria," and she also got engaged to actor John Krasinski. For "The Young Victoria" — in which the British actress plays the Victoria who would become the queen of the United Kingdom in 1838 — Blunt has earned her third Golden Globe nomination. Months before "The Young Victoria" had its North American premiere at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival, the movie was released in several countries. The film's North American release is set for December 2009.
"The Young Victoria" tells the story of Victoria and relationship she had with her husband, Albert (played by Rupert Friend), as well as Victoria’s power struggles during the early years of her reign. The film’s producers include Oscar winner Martin Scorsese and Sarah Ferguson (a.k.a. the Duchess of York a.k.a. Fergie), someone who knows a thing or two about living with the U.K.’s royal family. I recently sat down with Blunt at the New York City press junket for "The Young Victoria," where she dished about Ferguson making tea for people on "The Young Victoria" set, whether or not she’d like to work with Krasinski, and why she thinks her big-budget horror movie "The Wolfman" (due out in February 2010) is worth the wait after the film’s release was delayed for several months.
Did you ever faint while wearing those corsets?
I got close to it. Miranda Richardson was the one who had the closest call. After claiming she was amazing in the corset and that she could take it as tight as anyone wanted — we call it in the U.K., she "pulled a whitey" — she literally went white. She was sitting at the table and she was talking and she suddenly just went, "Get me out of it!" [She] had a panic attack, but I was all right. I sort of got very used to it, and by about 4 o'clock that's when it starts to hurt. But they look beautiful, so you've got to just suck it up, really, or suck it in, as they say.
Emily Blunt in "The Young Victoria"
Did they help you find your character?
I think that they’re very good in that it transports you to moving a different way, holding yourself differently and, you know, you do kind of have to glide with it. So I think it does help me. I usually try to approach characters in that way. Everyone's very different, but I tend to find the physical aspects of creating that person, very helpful like the costumes, the clothes, the way they move, the voice, everything like that. I usually start from that point.
What do you think it would have been like if you lived during the Victorian era?
Oh my God! It's almost an impossible question because I've no idea. I would hope that I could be as forward thinking as she was. She went against protocol and she was determined to make things better and she overrode tradition and I thought that that was a really wonderful quality for her. And surprising that she had the guts to do it, because I think it probably helped her not growing up with court amongst those stately manners that, you know, from the mannerisms to the etiquette. I think that she was kind of a loose cannon in a room like that because she had a horrible temper, which was kind of correlated into how passionate she was as a character. But I think she was a modern girl and I think that she was independent, so I would hope I wouldn't be manipulated and controlled in the way a lot of women were those days.
How do you handle your fame while still wanting to be a young person and develop yourself?
It's funny, cause I think it is all about choices, you know, from the choices you make as to where you want to go and eat dinner. Like don't go to the scenes. Don't go where you know people are going to take your picture. Just find a dive bar. Why do you have to go to a scene? Are you talking about me or Victoria?
Emily Blunt in "The Young Victoria"
You and relating to her situation. It's kind of the same problem.
Yeah, it's a similar thing. I think it's interesting. I think you have to develop quite a thick skin because people are going to trash you. Not everyone's going to think you're great. I think that that's important to remember that it's actually the best part of it that you have no control over it. So you've got to relinquish that and just let it go, because I have no control over that side of it, of people's opinions, but I do have control over how much I put myself out there and I feel like, in a way, I lead now a similar existence to what Victoria led — although certainly not under the amount of pressure that she was under. It’s not compared to the ridicule she was under. I think it’s sort of that element of a dual existence. You have yourself at home behind closed doors and then you have an awareness when you step outside the house. And for me, it's only awareness, it's no more than that.
And nobody has to help you down the stairs.
No! [She laughs.] Sometimes in heels! In heels it can be tricky so I do need a hand-holding then.
Emily Blunt in "The Young Victoria"
What were your impressions of Victoria before you did this movie, and how did they change after you made the film?
I actually had a rather limited knowledge of Victoria and Victoriana, how they created that, her and Albert together, but I had the image of her as the old lady who's mourning and dressed in black. So I had no idea about this antithesis of that, which was when she was young and she was rebellious, spunky and bright. It was these elements of her that I never imagined possible so when I started reading about all of that I was very surprised to hear about the character traits I'd never thought were there.
Was your prior knowledge of the period what you learned in school?
No, I had no idea because I took geography, which I thought was an easier subject compared to history, so I took geography … I can't remember any of it! You know, it was just sort of a probably stupid thing to take cause I think history would have been the better way to go so then it would have helped me more with this, but I don't know, maybe not. We have a whole lot of kings and queens, you know, we have a lot of them. So I think that I probably would have only known a paragraph about her anyway beforehand.
I think to read what they did together — really mainly under Albert’s influence, because he very educated in social reform and architecture and the arts and the sciences and what he did for poverty and all of that — that was really fascinating to read about that. They were very progressive in what they wanted to do for the country.
Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend in "The Young Victoria"
What did the filmmakers give you to read?
Well, ["The Young Victoria" screenwriter] Julian Fellowes is a historian, really. You can't try and out-history Julian Fellowes, because he will nail you every time. So it was very helpful talking to him and then reading books that he had encouraged me to read: biographies, diaries of hers, letters. The diaries were most helpful to me because you can learn as much as you want about the history. You can read about it out of your own interest, but it doesn't necessarily help me with trying to play this person.
And again, you can read as much as you want of her diaries and her letters but you have to drop that at some point and make it your own and another actress would have read the same diaries and had a different take, so it was just my personal take on her. What I felt I could identify with, what I thought was important to bring across.
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Rupert Friend and Emily Blunt in "The Young Victoria"
Was it hard keeping that balance of making Victoria her relatable to modern audiences without making her too modern?
It's interesting because I wanted it to be accessible, because I feel period dramas can be quite staged almost and stiff and arch. And I think that that stops people from actually getting in and identifying with what's going on. But at the same time, you don't want to risk losing those constraints, because then you lose the whole nature of the implications of what happens if you do a certain thing in that period and if you've lost any of those constraints in any of the world, then it sort of doesn't become relevant. And so it is a tough balance.
Rupert and I approached it very similarly and I was lucky with him because he is such a natural actor as well, so we sort of fed off each other, try to make those moments incredibly real. Well, love is this thing that's all about emotions and instinct so you could have this flowery dialogue, but at the end of the day instinctually it's about love … And love is timeless and so I think that we really strive for that to fight against the dialogue, fight against the costumes, try not to be swallowed up by the sets and opulence of it. I thought it was a love story but I thought it was a film about a dysfunctional family and about a young girl who's in a job where she's way over her head. So I try to approach it in a way that I could understand. I have no idea what it was like to be Queen of England.
Martin Scorsese and Emily Blunt at the New York City premiere of "The Young Victoria," December 2009
What was it like working with "The Young Victoria" producers Sarah Ferguson and Martin Scorsese?
I actually had not met Scorsese until the other night. I met him the other night, so he wasn't on set, but I gather he was very helpful in post-production. He was so helpful in the edits and his notes. He really has an encyclopedic knowledge of everything so he probably knows more about Queen Victoria than I do.
But Sarah was really, she was a great support system because she came up with the initial idea but then she very much took a back step and let us… she said, "Well, what do I know about making a film? I know nothing about that." But she'd come on set and make tea for everyone. But she was always so open and down-to-earth and I think that you were able to see the humanity in the royal family through her because she would talk quite openly. In a way, she identified more with Albert, because Albert was the guest in the house and the outsider. She actually understood his character more.
How do you think the British royal family will react to this movie?
The queen saw it! Yeah, she liked it. She says she wants to know what happens next, so that was good. I’ve never met her.
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Emily Blunt in "The Young Victoria"
Do you have any hopes or expectations for you winning any awards for "The Young Victoria"?
No. I feel like people are the bird watchers. You can't have an awareness of what is going to happen and it's such a meat market. Who knows? I just want people to see it. I feel if there's any buzz around this film it's a good thing, not in a selfish way for me, but for the film because these films need a lot of help. They can be overwhelmed by "New Moon" or whatever else … I think deserves to be seen and I think it's very beautiful. So if there's any kind of buzz around it, it's good.
You’ve come a long way since your film debut in 2004’s "My Summer of Love." Has anything on this journey surprised you?
Not too many people saw "My Summer of Love" … Lots of people didn’t. In a weird way, that’s what I mean about this film, [press coverage] builds buzz around it. I think it was mis-timed, "Summer of Love." It got the most glowing reviews of anything I ever read and people went crazy for it, but they couldn’t place it. It was this magical little film … but no one saw it. You need the buzz around films like this. I watched "The Deer Hunter" the other day, and I don’t think it would get made nowadays. It’s tragic.
Emily Blunt and Jim Broadbent in "The Young Victoria"
Is Jim Broadbent as entertaining as the King William character he played in "The Young Victoria"?
Oh, he's so entertaining! She [Victoria] did adore her uncle. He was always wonderful to her, very much a father figure and she was kept back from seeing him and that was always very sad for her. Well, she was kept back from seeing anyone. It was a really oppressive, lonely childhood. She had a wonderful relationship with King William.
And I think there was one story I read that she was walking with her mother in the gardens, and her mother was reluctant about being there with King William. And he came past in his carriage and just picked her up and they went on this crazy ride around the gardens in his carriage. So that was her outlet going to see him. Jim Broadbent is absolutely as fun as you can imagine. He's really wonderful. That's my favorite scene in the film, that dinner scene.
Emily Blunt and Benicio Del Toro in "The Wolfman"
You mentioned "New Moon" earlier. And you have your own wolf movie, "The Wolfman," coming out in 2010. Can you comment on the rumors over why the release of "The Wolfman" was delayed from being released in 2009? And what was it like working on that movie, since you normally don’t do horror films?
I think a film like that, with the special effects, it’s a big movie. You can’t accelerate its release date. It’s not fair. It just needed a little more time. The film is so good. I’m really happy that they waited. I think it’s the best time for people to see it. This [autumn] is all about awards season. I don’t know if ["The Wolfman"] is that kind of film. It’s a werewolf movie. It’s a brilliant one, more of a throwback to the old Lon Chaney films: classic and gothic and eerie. But I don’t think it competes with the slasher movies in that way, because I think it’s better.
["The Wolfman" was delayed] for a combination of reasons, but I don’t see that it had anything to do with me. I did my job. They loved the movie. That [February 2010] is the best time more people are going to see it.
Emily Blunt in "The Wolfman"
Do you know why new editors were brought in to re-cut "The Wolfman"?
No, I don’t. I don’t know what happened behind those scenes. I think that it’s important to get as many influences as possible on a film of that scale, with that much [special] effects to take place.
How was it working with the dog in the movie?
Oh, that little dog was so cute! She was so cute. She was 10 months old and she was amazing. We had a great trainer, Gill Raddings, was the best. And I walked around with Frankfurter sausages in my hand, so I probably was delusional about how much this dog loved me. I think it was just after the sausages, but she was so sweet. I worked with her a lot beforehand, so she got to know me and she knew all of the commands. She’s watch and be very attentive and Gill would point to me and [say, "You need to go with her," and she’d follow me. She was wonderful!
Do you have a dog?
I have a huge dog. He’s the best! He’s a red fox Labrador, but I think he might be a mix. I think we got swindled. He’s huge. He’s too beautiful to be a Lab. It’s almost like he’s been cross-bred with a deer or something.
Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend in "The Young Victoria"
There’s great chemistry between Victoria and Albert. Did you know that chemistry was there between you and Rupert or did you not realize until you watched the film?
I think you know it. Rupert and I met and we just got on so well and I think that really helps. I think when you have a genuine like for that person it gives you a freedom within the scene to try stuff.
There's a lot of trust there, so you can improv moments and they come alive and sometimes you strike gold and sometimes it's like watching paint dry, but at least you can try it because you have the trust there with that person. He's wonderful and is partly because he was just the only guy to play that job, because he was so perfect for Albert. And he was the last person that came in to read and I was like, thank God, because he just blew it out of the water. He was so fantastic.
Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend in "The Young Victoria"
Which type of film do you watch more: A period costume drama like "The Young Victoria" or a scary movie like "The Wolfman"?
Oh this one [period costume genre]! I don’t do scary films. I’m not great with scary movies.
What are your favorites of the period costume dramas?
"Elizabeth," because Cate [Blanchett] was insane in it. I mean, she’s so brilliant. And I loved "Mrs. Brown." I saw that ages ago, and it’s one of my favorite performances I’ve ever seen. You know when you see those films, and there are moments in films that last forever in your mind? Judi Dench when she first meets Billy Connolly [in "Mrs. Brown"], he breaks down all of the barriers. And she’s very polite and she’s obviously on the edge of having a breakdown. And he casually says to her, "My God, I heard you were bad, but I didn’t expect to find her in this much of a state." And she completely breaks down in the scene.
And I remember rewinding it and watching it about 10 times, because I didn’t know how she did it. It was so alive and so organic and real. It’s those moments you remember in film. And so even before I did "The Young Victoria," even before I heard they were making this film, that was always one f my favorite moments in cinematic history.
John Krasinski and Emily Blunt at the New York City premiere of "The Young Victoria"
Your fiancé, actor John Krasinski, made his film directorial debut with "Brief Interviews With Hideous Men." Would you like to work with him as an actor, a director or both?
Yeah, I would. Both.
Have you been offered any scripts that you would consider doing with John? And what did you think of Brief Interviews With Hideous Men"?
No, not yet. It was great. I loved it!
What’s next for you?
I don’t know what I’m doing next, which is actually quite nice. I’m ready to read a lot and take it all in. I’m not really sure. This year has been quite busy, so I’m very much looking forward to finding something that gets me really excited about going to work. That’s not to say I haven’t had that experience on other set, but I would like to take a breather.
Emily Blunt, Alan Arkin, Jason Spevack and Amy Adams in "Sunshine Cleaning"
Can you talk about "Sunshine Cleaning," one of your other movies that came out in 2009?
"Sunshine Cleaning," we didn’t know what was going to happen with it. I thought it was a great little movie. I met one of my dearest friends on it — Amy [Adams] — and we became such good friends. But again, with those little films that take off, it gives me hope for the industry that these films will be seen and people love it [or] at least see it on DVD …
I think it was a film with real heart. It had a human heartbeat to it … It’s about a dysfunctional family and family under duress. And I loved the survival element to that family. It was great. Alan Arkin playing my dad; there’s nothing better.
With the December holidays upon us, do you have any favorite holiday memories?
I remember every year when we were kids — I’m one of four kids — we’d alternate it on which one would put the angel on the top of the tree. And I was always really anal about who had put it on [the previous] year, and there would always be huge fights between the kids … We’d do Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, which is on [December 26], and we usually have roast beef on Boxing Day.
Rupert Friend and Emily Blunt in "The Young Victoria"
If you worked with John Krasinski, would you want to do a comedy or drama?
I don’t know. "Gulliver’s Travels" was a big comedy and that was a lot of fun. I’ve never really had a preference [between comedy and drama]. I usually enjoy films that are a bit in the middle, because the films that make you cry are where you fall so in love with the characters because they’re funny and quirky.
I enjoy films that offer you both of those things. I think it’s quite hard for an adult drama to be made these days. You usually find something with that kind of hook to it. I think that comedies, if they’re done in the right way, can charm you to tears. Those are the best kind of comedies. I’m a bit tired of the dick jokes. That has no finesse or charm to me … That should probably be kept behind closed doors.
Can you talk about your experience doing the animated film "Gnomeo and Juliet"?
It’s different. You’re restricted to this little booth that you’re in. I’m doing [the movie] with James McAvoy, and we haven’t even had one session together.
Emily Blunt in "The Young Victoria"
You haven't met the queen, but what’s an imaginary scenario of what would happen if you did?
I'm sure I would botch it up somehow. I'm sure I'd forget to curtsey, I'd probably, I don't know what I would do. I'd probably say the wrong this. I might drop an "F" bomb. It could all go wrong. I think it would be nice to meet her in this context, because I’ve played a queen.
You’ve been spending a lot of time in New York. Would you consider doing a show on Broadway?
I’d love to. I’d really love to. Not a musical. I’m not going to do a musical.
Can you talk a little bit more about your encounters with Sarah Ferguson?
She only came on [set] twice. She really wasn’t around once we started filming. She’s very much. She was very much tenacious with Graham [King, another producer of "The Young Victoria"] in getting it off the ground, but she was just thrilled to be a part of it. I really got to know her afterward, when we started doing press.
Rupert Friend, Emily Blunt and Sarah Ferguson at the Los Angeles premiere of "The Young Victoria," December 2009
What can you say about the confidante relationship Victoria had with Lord Melbourne, played by Paul Bettany?
It’s a really interesting relationship, because Melbourne was everything to [Victoria]. He was a father figure. She was infatuated with him a slightly teenage way, but she didn’t have those romantic feelings toward him; it was more like a teenage crush that developed into very much a real friendship. She had a real love for him, but at the same time, he was manipulating her and he was toying with that. He actually ended up having a huge amount of respect for her when he realized that he couldn’t do that anymore. The tables turned. It was an interesting dynamic to get, because you wanted to see that there was a threat to Albert, but at the same time, that nothing shady was going on.
So [Paul Bettany] was great with that, because he’d add elements of being vaguely flirtatious but not seedy. And you could see that he really liked her, but you could see that he was completely trying to sabotage or use her as a pawn. So it was a complicated dynamic to get, and it was mainly on to create that. And he created it because it should always be ambiguous as to what that relationship really was. I thought it was great. It was very delicately done.
Emily Blunt at Los Angeles premiere of "The Young Victoria," December 2009
A lot of celebrities complain about the down side of fame. What’s been the up side of fame for you?
I feel like it’s a really magical job. The side effects of what comes with that can be good and bad. But the thing I get out of it is the work. It’s not whatever people think of me or if you’re regarded well, because with that comes bad regard and that willingness to see you fall. A lot of people like to see you fall from grace. There’s a real hunger for that. I’m aware of that, but I try not to buy into it too much into what people think.
But as long as I keep getting the parts that I’m lucky enough to play and the variety I really strive for, that’s what I love about the work: the diversity of what you can do. It’s a wonderful job, and everything you go through in life can come out of it somehow. You can have a visceral reaction to so much in life and you can put it into your work. It’s a really wonderful job in that way.
Photo credits: Photo #1: Carla Hay. Photos #7, 14, 18, 19: AP. Photos #10, 11: Universal Pictures. Photo #15: Overture Films. All other photos: Apparition.
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