Emily Blunt has revealed that if she reads “strong female lead” in a script she’s immediately opts “out” of a project.
The 39-year-old is currently starring in BBC western drama The English where plays an aristocratic English woman called Lady Cornelia Locke.
Reflecting on how she chooses her roles, The Devil Wears Prada actress explained that the way a character is described on the page is a major sway in her decision.
Speaking to a The Telegraph, Blunt shared: “I love a character with a secret. And I loved Cornelia’s buoyancy, her hopefulness, her guilelessness.
“It’s the worst thing ever when you open a script and read the words ‘strong female lead’. That makes me roll my eyes – I’m already out. I’m bored.”
The A Quiet Place actress also added that she believes “strong female leads” are expected to have almost no emotion.
She continued: “Those roles are written as incredibly stoic; you spend the whole time acting tough and saying tough things.”
But Blunt felt differently about her role in The English and explained that her character Lady Cornelia Locke is much more complex.
The Edge of Tomorrow star shared: “Cornelia is more surprising than that. She’s innocent without being naive and that makes her a force to be reckoned with.
“She startles Eli out of his silence and their differences become irrelevant because they need each other to survive. I thought that was very cool.”
The English explores the unlikely connection between an aristocratic Englishwoman (Blunt) and a Pawnee ex-cavalry scout, played by Chaske Spencer in 1890s America.
The new six-part series is written and directed by Hugo Blick, who wrote and directed Golden Globe-winning drama The Honourable Women and BBC and Netflix collaboration Black Earth Rising, which starred Bafta award winner Michaela Coel.
In the high-octane Western drama, which was released this month, the protagonists “have a clear sense of their destiny but neither is aware that it is rooted in a shared past”, according to the BBC.
The show’s ensemble cast also includes Rafe Spall, Tom Hughes, Toby Jones and Ciaran Hinds.
