British Actors You Should Know: Emily Blunt
Emily Blunt is an award-winning acting phenomenon whose range encompasses drama, musical theater, comedy, horror, and action movies. Born and raised in Roehampton, a well-heeled London suburb, the daughter of a barrister and English teacher, Blunt was a shy and awkward child afflicted with a stutter. School was not easy for her, but thanks to a helpful drama teacher, she found that becoming someone else –– acting –– was the cure, particularly if she assumed a regional accent.
She is a long-term advocate for people who stutter, working with the American Institute for Stuttering, as reported by Variety last year: "I am grateful to shed light on [stuttering] because it is a disability that lives very often in the shadows alongside its friends: fear and shame and humiliation."
She attended the prestigious Hurtwood House in Surrey, a boarding school with a respected drama program that took a production to the Edinburgh Festival. There, Blunt was spotted by an agent and began job hunting. Early stage roles included Juliet in Romeo and Juliet at the UK Chichester Festival, and she made her West End debut in director Peter Hall’s 2001 revival of the 1927 play The Royal Family, as Judi Dench’s granddaughter. She was named Best Newcomer in Theater that year by The Evening Standard.
