Emily Blunt has revealed the exact three words which will make her reject an acting job outright.
The actress, 40, has appeared in a whole host of huge Hollywood blockbusters, including The Devil Wears Prada, Oppenheimer and A Quiet Place.
But Emily has given an insight into her strict selection process for her roles, admitting she has a very specific set of criteria.
She admitted she will immediately reject a script if she sees three very specific words because she knows the role will be ‘stoic’.
Speaking to The Telegraph in 2022, she said: ‘It’s the worst thing ever when you open a script and read the words “strong female lead”.
Rules: Emily Blunt has revealed if she sees the words ‘strong female lead’ in a script she will immediately reject the role because she knows it will be a ‘stoic’ character
‘That makes me roll my eyes – I’m already out. I’m bored.’
‘Those roles are written as incredibly stoic, you spend the whole time acting tough and saying tough things,’ she added.
Emily – who was promoting her role as Lady Cornelia Locke in The English at the time – said she instead loves playing a character with a ‘secret’.
She has an impressive CV of starring roles, including playing a sassy assistant in The Devil Wears Prada; an FBI agent in Sicario and a survival trainer in Edge of Tomorrow.
She recently saw huge success starring as Kitty Oppenheimer in the biopic based on the life of Robert Oppenheimer, who was played on screen by Cillian Murphy.
Oppenheimer told the complex story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, leader of the Manhattan Project, the team who built the world’s first atomic bomb.
And Emily was most recently in Pain Hustlers alongside Chris Evans, Andy Garcia and Catherine O’Hara, and she recently wrapped filming on The Fall Guy – a film adaptation of the 1980s hit TV series – alongside Ryan Gosling.
Her latest comments come after Emily hit out at gender inequality and insisted there is pressure on women to be ‘warm and likeable’, while men are not ‘held to the same standard’.
Passionate: Instead, Emily – who recently starred in new release Pain Hustlers (pictured) – said she instead loves playing a character with a ‘secret’
In July, Emily explained how women are ‘considered too ambitious or emotional’ when vigorously voicing their opinion.
Of female actors, Emily told The Guardian: ‘I think there is still a pressure to be likeable, and sort of warm and understood, and men are not held to that same standard. No one cared if Leonardo DiCaprio was likeable in The Wolf of Wall Street.’
Asked if women are more forthright, the actress explained: ‘Yes, but I could equally generalise and say a lot of women tend to try to dance around things because we’re not often given a platform to speak honestly.
‘Or you’re considered too ambitious or emotional if someone appears to be speaking their mind with spirited opinion.’
Emily – who is mother to daughters, Hazel, nine, and Violet, six, with her actor husband John Krasinski – also addressed speculation she is quitting Hollywood.
After revealing she would be taking a year off from acting to spend time with her family, Emily reassured fans: ‘I’m not quitting Hollywood. It’s OK, guys. Just taking a little bit of downtime.’
Career: She recently saw huge success starring as Kitty Oppenheimer in the biopic based on the life of Robert Oppenheimer, who was played on screen by Cillian Murphy
Break: Emily – who is mother to daughters, Hazel, nine, and Violet, six, with her actor husband John Krasinski (pictured) – also recently cleared up speculation she is quitting Hollywood
Emily didn’t specify when the break started when she initially told the Table for Two podcast of the hiatus.
She said: ‘This year, I’m not working. I worked quite a bit last year and my oldest baby is nine, so we’re in the last year of single digits.
‘And I just feel [like] there are cornerstones to their day that are so important when they’re little. And it’s, ”Will you wake me up? Will you take me to school? Will you pick me up? Will you put me to bed?”
‘And I just need to be there for all of them for a good stretch. And I just felt that in my bones.’