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Five Favorite Films with Emily Blunt
Plus, the star of this week's Salmon Fishing in the Yemen on working with Ewan McGregor, her forthcoming comedy with Jason Segel, and reprising that Devil Wears Prada role.
Emily Blunt arrived proper for most audiences as Meryl Streep's sarcastic, binge-dieting assistant in The Devil Wears Prada -- in which she stole many a scene from the Oscar legend -- and since then has proved a versatile star across all kinds of genres, be they comedy, drama, sci-fi and most things in between. She'll soon be headlining The Five-Year Engagement, Nicholas Stoller's comedy reunion with Jason Segel (for whom she appeared in The Muppets), trading quips with Colin Firth in Arthur Newman, Golf Pro, and starring in Rian Johnson's (Brick) much-anticipated time-travel thriller, Looper.
This week, Blunt co-stars opposite Ewan McGregor in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, director Lasse Hallström's picturesque comedy-drama about a fisheries expert enlisted by an eccentric sheik to bring a river to the Arabian desert. We had the chance to speak with the actress recently about the movie, her friendship with McGregor, and some of her forthcoming projects. Read on for that, but first -- here are her five favorite films.
Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975; 100% Tomatometer)
Jaws is my favorite film of all time. I've seen it about 30 times. Even though it has a ludicrous backdrop of them trying to find this Great White shark, I think it's a film about people and relationships -- and I just think the performances are fantastic. It has amazing characters and it has this very commercial, suspenseful backdrop, so I do think it's a perfect movie.
All that, and the shark didn't even work.
All that for a shark that didn't work. And you know what -- thank god it didn't, because not seeing the shark is just... I know so many people worldwide who became victims of Steven Spielberg and will not go in the water, so it's probably a good thing that the shark didn't work.
Were you one of those victims?
Yeah. For a long time, and I'm still terrified of them. I just started diving and I really love it, and that's helped me become friends with the sharks again -- 'cause I went diving with the Grey Reef sharks and Blacktip sharks, and that was extraordinary. And I realized they're not actually out to just tear my guts out, they're just wanting to be left alone.
Not all of them -- just that one.
[Laughs] Yeah, just that one enormous one.
Kramer vs. Kramer (Robert Benton, 1979; 88% Tomatometer)
Kramer vs. Kramer makes me weep. I love that offset of the dynamic, of the father being the main caretaker and his life being put into uproar in trying adapt and take care of this little boy. I love the perseverance of that film, and it makes me bawl my eyes out. I think that little boy is extraordinary in it; obviously he's not a little boy any more, but he'll always be that little boy to me.
The Princess Bride (Rob Reiner, 1987; 96% Tomatometer)
Princess Bride is obviously a given; everyone loves that and can quote it. [Laughs] I've seen that many times as a child and it swept me away every time. I loved it.
I'm picturing an odd childhood with you oscillating between that and Jaws.
Yeah that's it. My dad would always come home with inappropriate movies like The Terminator and Jaws and my mum would insist on me watching The Princess Bride and all the Disney films. [Laughs]
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Milos Forman, 1975; 96% Tomatometer)
I think it's a timeless movie. You watch it now and it hasn't dated one inch. I think it's incredibly... it's just staggering, and it's so moving. That's a really brilliantly directed movie.
The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel-Donnersmarck, 2006; 93% Tomatometer)
I just really got swept away by it. I think that final moment when he gets the book -- remember that scene? I'll never forget the expression on his face when he gets that book. You realize there're these moments in movies that just stay with you forever; it's wonderful. You get these imprinted moments: a line or a word, or a look, and they stay with you forever.
Next, Emily Blunt on working with Ewan McGregor for Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, her collaborations with Jason Segel, and reprising her Devil Wears Prada character.
Janson Jinnistan
Great choices, and a lovely actress. But "Jaws" having a "ludicrous backdrop"? Is that why it kept her terrified of the water for so long? Obviously the film is a classic because of the human element, and Spielberg's ability to avoid cynical exploitation. Nobody talks about the ludicrous backdrop of "Princess Bride", because sometimes these things simply don't matter when everything works.
Mar 4 - 03:44 PM
This comment has been removed.
Janson Jinnistan
That's all the wad you could muster? Tourette's and impotence is a horrible combination.
Mar 4 - 07:24 PM
Infernal Dude
I think I see what she's saying. It's essentially about a serial man eating shark and the hunt for it. We now know that you have as much of a chance to get struck by lightning as you do getting attacked by a great white shark. So it is a somewhat ridiculous premise, but because Speilberg is an adept filmmaker (Indy 4 not included) he pulls it off by keeping the threat shrouded in mystery til the end and giving us characters we care about. And Michael R., good feedback. You're a man of few, retarded words.
Mar 4 - 07:21 PM
Janson Jinnistan
Obviously, shark attacks are rare, but that's what horrifying about them. I think the story idea behind the book came from an actual incident on Martha's Vineyard. But it doesn't matter. It's still her favorite film of all time, right? It looks like Mike R got cold feet before I could respond - something about Tourette's and impotence. I guess he wised up.
Mar 4 - 07:29 PM
Janson Jinnistan
Let him have a good cry. I honestly don't know what I said that set him off. I was joking not complaining.
Mar 4 - 07:45 PM
Infernal Dude
Who gives a fug. I saw he was "reported for spam" so RT might have pulled his waste of space comment. I think the moral of the story is Jaws is the shyt.
Mar 4 - 07:56 PM
Janson Jinnistan
M'Lady Emily doth decree!
Mar 4 - 08:03 PM
Bradly Martin
I think the ludicrous thing is finding "That" shark that terrorized the beach out in the middle of the ocean. Obviously I'm not going to pull conspiracy and say they didn't kill "that" shark but finding one specific fish (that nobody has seen) in the ocean is ludicrous.
Now that that's out of the way. I love these pics. The lives of others is the only one I haven't seen and she has me sold on placing it near the top of my Netflix Que.
Mar 4 - 08:27 PM
Big Brother
I think what she meant was that same premise has been used so many times in the intervening years from the Jaws sequels to SYFYs Sharktopus/Galligator movies to ridiculous effect that it makes what Spielberg did with it all the more impressive.
Mar 5 - 05:33 PM