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Emily Blunt, winner of Elle Women in Hollywood, spoke about how The Devil Wears Prada changed the course of her career. The star said she was “so thrilled” to be reprising her role as Emily Charlton in the sequel. She also talked about why the 2006 film resonates so much now, calling it “people’s nostalgia bank.”
For many, Emily Blunt’s role as Miranda Priestley’s first assistant Emily Charlton in 2006’s The Devil Wears Prada is one of her most iconic characters. But for British actress and ELLE Women in Hollywood winner Emily, her career is all thanks to Emily.
In an interview, Blunt talked about reprising her role as The Devil Wears Prada in the sequel, which is scheduled for release next year. “It’s very emotional,” she said. “Because it changed everything.[Director]David Frankel changed my life by casting me when I was an unknown. I was working and no one knew who I was. And he was convinced from the recorded reading that he wanted me to be in the movie. It meant a lot to me.”
Emily “was such a ridiculous character,” she admitted. But that was in the best sense. “This opened the door for people to see me as more than just a girl in a British period drama. It opened the door to character roles, which is all I wanted. I didn’t want to be an original. I was interested in exploring my whole bag of tricks.”
Blunt has not yet revealed any details about the sequel. But she understands exactly why the original film resonates so much today, nearly 20 years later. “Movies these days are like a nostalgia piggy bank for people,” she said. “People have seen that movie 50 times. They watch it with sick parents, they watch it when they’re going through a breakup. It’s a source of comfort and escapism. And this movie is also really great. I think it’s a beautiful movie. In many ways, it’s a comedy. What started out as a story, with some shocking elements of what they say and the way they say it and the ruthless nature of the fashion industry, then turns into something more poignant and profound. I think what people are really drawn to is the change in tone.
“What David Frankel and[screenwriter]Aline Brosh McKenna have done with the script is really clever. It’s a really tough needle to inject so much depth into a world that can often seem superficial.[It’s also about]ambition, what it looks like, what it means, what the consequences are, what the undoing is. It’s a really empowering movie for women as well. Miranda Priestley’s character would have been more memorable than the nickname she received, and I can see people really salivating over that line, which is a really delicious experience.”
Read her full interview here.
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