Emily Blunt has opened up about her decision to take a year out from work and focus on her family.
The London-born actress, 40, is married and shares two daughters with fellow actor John Krasinski, 43.
Since the birth of Blunt and Krasinski’s two daughters, Hazel and Violet in 2014 and 2016 respectively, the in-demand star has appeared in films including A Quiet Place, Mary Poppins Returns and the 2022 TV mini-series The English.
She also has several upcoming projects including Oppenheimer, which will be released in the UK on July 21 — the same day as the Barbie movie.
Blunt spoke about putting the brakes on her career for a bit when interviewed for the latest episode of podcast Table For Two.
Asked by host Bruce Bozzi how she juggles working with being a mother, she replied: “Not always well, you know.
“It’s one of those things when people are like, ‘How do you balance it?’ I never feel like I’m doing it right, you know. But this year I’m not working.”
“I worked quite a bit last year and my oldest baby is nine — like we’re in the last year of single digits — and I just feel there’s cornerstones to their day that is 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.”
While she says she had “a beautiful time” working on her projects last year, Blunt confessed that “some were more intense than others. Some were harder than others. Some were more time-consuming than others, and the ones that are time-consuming I think, for me, are becoming few and further between because of just the emotional cost on me, on the kids, on balance.”
She went on to describe the “guilt” that her and other mothers are prone to feeling “for, God forbid, wanting something outside of being a mother”.
She added: “I want my kids to grow up and find something they adore doing.”
