Emily Blunt Biography

British actress Emily Blunt has had an acclaimed career in film and television, but it was not until her role in 2006’s The Devil Wear Prada that she became a well-known face and a Hollywood player.

Emily Olivia L Blunt was born February 23, 1983 in Roehampton, London, England. One of four children, her father was a barrister, while her mother was a teacher. By the time she was sixteen, Blunt knew she wanted to be involved in entertainment, and to that end she had already secured an agent.

Blunt began her career onstage with the play Bliss in the 2000 Edinburgh Festival. She subsequently made her onscreen debut in 2003 with the television production Boudica starring Alex Kingston and Ben Faulks.

She next earned a bit role in the film Henry VIII with leads Ray Winstone, Joss Ackland, and Helena Bonham Carter. She dabbled in television until her breakout role in 2004’s My Summer of Love with costar Nathalie Press.

She had another revered role in Gideon’s Daughter with Bill Nighy and Miranda Richardson providing the leads. She followed with yet another winner in the Ann Turner directed Irresistible. Rubbing elbows with some of Hollywood’s finest, Blunt costarred with the likes of Susan Sarandon and Sam Neill.

But it was 2006 that made Blunt a household name. She won a major supporting role with Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci, and Adrian Grenier in the film adaptation of The Devil Wears Prada.

Streep, considered by many as the best actress of our time, praised Blunt as one of the most talented actresses she had the honor to work with in a long time, perhaps ever. Her and costar Hathaway also became good friends during the shoot, bonding over the shared need to lose weight for their respective roles. Hathaway was even quoted as flippantly saying she and Blunt would simply cling to each other and cry from hunger during the shoot.

Winning a slew of films after her newfound acclaim, she starred in Wind Chill, The Jane Austen Book Club with Maria Bello and Jimmy Smits, and Dan in Real Life with Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche, and Dane Cook.

She is in post-production for the film Sunshine Cleaning with Alan Arkin and Steve Zahn, The Great Buck Howard with Tom Hanks and John Malkovich, and she is filming Charlie Wilson’s War as well as The Young Victoria.

Maintaining her stage roots, Blunt also appeared in the live theater productions The Royal Family, Romeo and Juliet, and Vincent in Brixton.

On the award front, Blunt won a Golden Globe nomination for The Devil Wears Prada and took home the award for Gideon’s Daughter in 2007.

In her personal life, Blunt lives between London and Vancouver. Until recently she shared a home with her Canadian singer boyfriend Michael Bublé, whom she first met in Melbourne, Australia at the television Logie Awards in 2005. She later provided background vocals on his cover of "Me and Mrs. Jones" on his album Call Me Irresponsible.

The couple split up in July 2008 when Blunt ended their three-year relationship due to their busy work schedules.

In March 2009, Emily teamed up with Oscar nominated Amy Adams in Sunshine Cleaning, a movie that sees the two playing sisters taking up the unusual work of crime scene cleaners. With Alan Arkin as their father the movie has sadness, laughter, drama and romance.