THE WOLFMAN

EMILY BLUNT (Gwen Conliffe) shot to international prominence with her lead role in the multi-award-winning British movie My Summer of Love, filmed in the summer of 2003. Blunt played the mysterious and privileged Tamsin, who becomes the obsession of a local girl, in this intoxicating romance from Pawel Pawlikowski. The Independent praised her "genuine grace and predatory charisma,” The Scotsman said that "Blunt manages to convey the petulant certainty of late adolescence, while wielding her sexuality to dangerous effect” and Harper's Bazaar called Blunt "the most impressive film debut I've seen since Kate Winslet in Heavenly Creatures.” Blunt won the Most Promising Newcomer award at the 2005 Evening Standard British Film Awards and was nominated in the Best Newcomer category at the 2004 British Independent Film Awards. The film won the Best British Film award at the 2005 BAFTAs.

Blunt started her career at the 2002 Chichester Festival, where she played Juliet in a production of Romeo and Juliet. Her London stage debut was portraying Gwen Cavendish in a production of The Royal Family, opposite Dame Judi Dench. In 2003, she appeared on television screens as Princess Isolda in the British television drama Boudica and, in the same year, she starred in the television adaptation of Agatha Christie's "Death on the Nile.” Blunt went on to appear in Henry VIII, a two-part television drama documenting the stormy 38-year reign of the king. Blunt played Henry's fifth wife, the teenage Queen Catherine Howard, alongside Ray Winstone, Helena Bonham Carter and Michael Gambon. The series won the Best Television Movie/Miniseries at the 2003 International Emmy Awards.

The critically acclaimed Gideon's Daughter, in which Blunt starred alongside Bill Nighy and Miranda Richardson, was shot in October 2004. Blunt played Natasha, the troubled daughter of a businessman who seems to be more dedicated to his career and girlfriend than to her. Set in the intense summer of 1997, against a backdrop of the Labour Party's election victory and Princess Diana's death, the drama was directed by Stephen Poliakoff. The film was first broadcast on BBC One in February 2006 and appeared on BBC America in April of the same year. Blunt won a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television for her performance.

In 2005, Blunt flew to New York to start work on The Devil Wears Prada. An adaptation of the hugely popular Lauren Weisberger novel, the film features Blunt as the intensely neurotic Emily Chalton, senior assistant at Runway Magazine, who is permanently on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Directed by David Frankel and co-starring Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci, the film opened to great acclaim in the U.S. in June 2006 and made more than $125 million at the U.S. box office.

The critics shared the audience's love for The Devil Wears Prada and for Blunt: The New York Times described her as a "tour de force of smiling hostility,” the Los Angeles Times called her "scene-stealing,” The Washington Post wrote that she "delivers a comic gem” and New York magazine reported that "the brilliant British actress Emily Blunt is a marvel at conveying the terror beneath the hauteur.” British critics were no less enthusiastic, The Observer called her "splendid” and the Telegraph praised her performance as "terrific” and "a catty delight.” The Daily Mail wrote, "It would be unjust if Emily Blunt's supporting performance…didn't win awards. This is a terrific young actress who would grace any production.”

Blunt was nominated in the Breakout Female category at the 2006 Teen Choice Awards for her performance and was honored with the Breakthrough Award at the 2006 Movieline Young Hollywood Awards. She was also nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category at the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs for the role. The movie was released worldwide in October 2006 and made more than $320 million at the box office. Blunt went on to be nominated for the Rising Star Award at the 2007 BAFTAs.

In August 2006, Blunt started work on The Great Buck Howard, written and directed by Sean McGinly and co-starring Tom Hanks, John Malkovich and Colin Hanks. Blunt plays Valerie, a self-assured publicist hired by a luckless magician trying to reinvigorate his career. The film premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and was released in the U.S. in March 2009. Following this, Blunt filmed Dan in Real Life, with Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche and Dane Cook. It was released in the U.S. on October 26, 2007, and in the U.K. on January 11, 2008.

Blunt went on to make The Jane Austen Book Club. She starred alongside Maria Bello, Frances McDormand, Kevin Zegers and Hugh Dancy, as a secretive, unhappy teacher who yearns for more than life has given her. The film was released in the U.S. on September 21, 2007, followed by a U.K. release on November 16, 2007. The Daily Mail said that "star-inthe- making Blunt's funny and touching performance… made me wish more of the film was about her.”

U.S. critics were no less impressed: "Blunt [is] the standout in this terrific ensemble,” said the Washington City Paper, while Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post announced, "Blunt is becoming one of the best comedic actresses on screen, and certainly its most delicious bitter pill.”

Blunt next spent two months in Albuquerque, New Mexico, filming Sunshine Cleaning. Produced by the team behind Little Miss Sunshine, the film was directed by Christine Jeffs and tells the story of two sisters who start up a successful business cleaning up crime scenes. Blunt's co-stars included Amy Adams and Alan Arkin, and the film was Blunt's second at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. It had a very successful release in the U.S. in March 2009, when it opened with the highest perscreen average of any release so far that year.

In late 2007, Blunt was seen in Mike Nichols' Charlie Wilson's War, with Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman. The film was released in the U.S. in December 2007.

Blunt next filmed the Martin Scorsese-produced biopic The Young Victoria. She plays Britain's Queen Victoria in the early stages of her life, and the film is written by Julian Fellowes and directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. The cast also includes Miranda Richardson, Jim Broadbent and Rupert Friend. The film was released in the U.K. in March 2009, earning Blunt high praise from U.K. film critics. Wendy Ide at The Times wrote, "Rising star Emily Blunt plays the cloistered young monarch with a playfulness and a lively spirit,” while Baz Bamigboye declared he "loved” Blunt's performance and the Sunday Express raved, "Blunt deftly judges the mixture of stubbornness and naivety in Victoria.” The film was then picked to be the closing night film of the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival, ahead of a November 2009 release.

In September 2009, Blunt moved to New York to start work on The Adjustment Bureau, directed by George Nolfi. Starring opposite Matt Damon, Blunt plays an enigmatic ballerina who arrives in the life of an ambitious congressman and throws his life into turmoil.

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