The Girl On The Train, which stars the actress, premiered yesterday. Loong Wai Ting lists some of her best films
1. THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA (2006)
Based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Lauren Weisberg, the film follows college graduate Andrea (Anne Hathaway), who lands a job as assistant to powerful fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep). Blunt plays Emily Charlton, Priestly’s other assistant. She was cast before Hathaway. In some scenes, Emily is seen running about in the background, appearing busy throughout. Although it was not required by the script, Blunt thought it would keep her character alive. Most of her wardrobe was from Vivienne Westwood.
2. THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU (2011)
Based loosely on writer Philip K. Dick’s short story, the film tells of a young man (Matt Damon) who discovers that the events in his life are controlled by a technologically-advanced intelligence network. Along the way he meets a young dancer (Blunt) and they fall in love. She received lots of praise for her portrayal. The film marked the first of three films where Blunt’s character tries to change the future — the others being Looper (2012) and Edge Of Tomorrow (2014).
3. YOUR SISTER’S SISTER (2011)
Iris (Blunt) invites her friend Jack (Mark Duplass) to stay at her family’s island cabin after the death of his brother. At the cabin, Jack has a romantic encounter with Iris’ half-sister, Hannah (Rosemarie DeWitt). The film was shot in just 12 days in Washington’s San Juan Islands. The relationship between Hannah and Iris is not made clear until the end, but attentive viewers will have no problem spotting the difference in their accents: One speaks with an American accent while the other has a British accent.
4. SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN (2011)
Based on the 2007 novel of the same name by Paul Torday, the film is about fisheries expert Alfred Jones (Ewan McGregor) who is hired by a consultant firm to help realise a sheikh’s dream of bringing fly fishing to the Yemen. Blunt was director Lasse Hallstrom’s first choice. The talented actress was nominated for Best Actress — Comedy or Musical at the 2012 Golden Globe Awards.
5. THE FIVE-YEAR ENGAGEMENT (2012)
A year after first meeting, Tom (John Segel) proposes to Violet (Blunt). As the couple prepares to walk down the aisle, they are constantly being held back by unexpected events. Both Blunt and Segel previously worked together in Guilliver’s Travels (2010) and The Muppets (2011). To help co-star Alison Brie with her British accent, Blunt provided recordings of her readings for Brie to listen to.
6. THE WIND RISES (2013)
Directed by acclaimed Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, this film takes a look at the life of Jiro Horikoshi, the man who designed Japanese fighter planes during WWII. Blunt lends her voice as Nahoko, Jiro’s dying love interest, who is afflicted with tuberculosis, in the US release of the film. A big fan of Miyazaki’s works, Blunt called the film the director’s most complex work to date. In an interview with USA Today, she said of her character: “It’s that dreamlike idea that my character represents. That purity of dreaming for a better world and that’s partly because she (Nahoko) knows she hasn’t got long in this world”.
7. EDGE OF TOMORROW (2014)
Adapted from the 2004 Japanese novel All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, the film is set in 2020 where Earth is invaded by an alien race known as the Mimics. Blunt plays a special forces warrior known as Rita who teams up with Tom Cruise’ Bill Cage to defeat the Mimics. During a car chase scene, Blunt was instructed to drive fast and then take a right turn. However, she missed her mark and drove the car into a tree. She later said that the experience was both hilarious and terrifying, as she almost killed Cruise.
8. INTO THE WOODS (2014)
Adapted for the silver screen from the award-winning Broadway musical of the same name, the film features an ensemble cast including Meryl Streep, Anna Kendrick and Johnny Depp. Blunt was about three months pregnant when she rehearsed the scene with the song Any Moment with co-star Chris Pine. When the actual filming took place, Blunt was in her seventh month of pregnancy. She said that during filming, Pine struggled to hold her, due to her fluctuating weight.
9. SICARIO (2015)
An FBI agent is enlisted by the government task force to help put an end to the drug war at the border between the US and Mexico. Blunt based her character Kate Macer on one of the four FBI agents she spoke to in preparation for her role. Director Denis Villeneuve saw Blunt in The Young Victoria (2009), and immediately wanted her to be in his film.
10. THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER’S WAR (2016)
This sequel to Snow White And The Huntsman (2012) centres on Eric (Chris Hemsworth) and Sara (Jessica Chastain), who are both members of Queen Freya’s (Blunt) army. Hemsworth plays superhero Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Blunt was Marvel’s first choice for the character of Black Widow in Iron Man 2 (2010) but she turned down the role due to her prior commitment to film Gulliver’s Travels (2010) instead.