{"id":346982,"date":"2025-11-01T02:38:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T02:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/346982\/"},"modified":"2025-11-01T02:38:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T02:38:11","slug":"emily-blunt-teases-the-devil-wears-prada-2-and-talks-smashing-machine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/346982\/","title":{"rendered":"Emily Blunt Teases The Devil Wears Prada 2 and Talks Smashing Machine"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tEmily Blunt<\/a> doesn\u2019t believe in half measures. <\/p>\n

\n\tWhether she\u2019s playing a time-looping soldier in \u201cEdge of Tomorrow,\u201d a pill-popping commuter in \u201cThe Girl on the Train,\u201d or a grief-stricken wife in \u201cA Quiet Place,\u201d she approaches every role with empathy and fearlessness. But even by her standards, Benny Safdie\u2019s \u201cThe Smashing Machine<\/a>\u201d pushed her further than ever before.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen I saw it with Benny, we both sobbed,\u201d Blunt tells Variety. \u201cIt\u2019s strange when you make a movie and then see it reflected back at you. You\u2019re on the inside looking out, and suddenly you\u2019re kidnapped into someone else\u2019s vision of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJohnson, who built his career on charisma and invincibility, is unrecognizable here \u2014 literally and spiritually \u2014 as Kerr. His co-star is quick to acknowledge the transformation. \u201cIt\u2019s almost more than a performance,\u201d Blunt shares. \u201cI never once saw \u2018The Rock\u2019 on set. What he did was extraordinary, but it\u2019s also closer to his soul than people might imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThat emotional authenticity extends to Blunt\u2019s portrayal of Kerr\u2019s ex-wife Dawn Staples, a woman she feels was vilified in the 2002 documentary that inspired the film. Blunt took it upon herself to find the person beneath the headlines. \u201cShe was nervous about talking to me at first,\u201d Blunt recalls. \u201cMark had to persuade her. I told her, \u2018I will be your advocate.\u2019 And when she opened up, it was invaluable. She knew I\u2019d be playing her at one of the most tumultuous times of her life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSafdie, known for the chaotic realism of \u201cUncut Gems\u201d and \u201cGood Time,\u201d filmed the movie in a custom-built house wired with hidden cameras, giving the actors the freedom to move and react without traditional setups. The result is a raw, voyeuristic intimacy \u2014 particularly in one extended apartment fight scene that Blunt calls \u201c\u2019High Noon\u2019 in the kitchen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019d been talking about that fight for weeks,\u201d she says. \u201cBenny never straight-jackets you. If it pops off, if you improvise, if you\u2019re yelling over each other \u2014 all of it\u2019s fair game. It feels like you shouldn\u2019t be watching it, like it\u2019s too intimate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tEven the film\u2019s lighter moments tested Blunt\u2019s limits \u2014 namely, a sequence involving the Gravitron fairground ride that left her physically ill. \u201cI would rather drink bleach than ride fairground rides,\u201d she admits, laughing. \u201cBut Benny has this way of seducing you into saying yes. I ended up on the Gravitron, upside down, wearing this enormous wig, thinking, \u2018This is how I die.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDespite the extremes, \u201cThe Smashing Machine\u201d represents something personal for Blunt \u2014 a balance between the intensity of her craft and the serenity she seeks off-screen. \u201cI talk to myself when I feel overwhelmed,\u201d she admits. \u201c\u2018You\u2019re good, you\u2019re good, you\u2019re good. Zen it out.\u2019 That\u2019s how I get through the chaos.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOn the Variety Awards Circuit Podcast<\/a>, the Oscar nominee Blunt sits down for a wide-ranging conversation about the film, her friendship with Johnson, the long-awaited \u201cDevil Wears Prada\u201d sequel, and why she\u2019s waiting to go to Broadway. <\/p>\n

\n\tAlso on this episode, Oscar nominee Jessie Buckley discusses her towering performance in \u201cHamnet\u201d<\/a> and how it taught her to be tender in this world. Listen below!<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tDwayne Johnson as Mark Kerr, Emily Blunt as Dawn Staples, \u201cThe Smashing Machine\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy Everett Collection \/ A24<\/p>\n

\n\tThis interview has been edited and condensed.<\/p>\n

\t\tWhat drew you to Dawn Staples as a character?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI was fascinated by the emotional tightrope of playing someone who, within five minutes, could be both Mark\u2019s Achilles\u2019 heel and his greatest support system. Their relationship was volatile and messy, not tidy or palatable. I wanted to honor that chaos.<\/p>\n

\t\tHow did speaking with the real Dawn inform your performance?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tIt changed everything. She was nervous to speak with me at first, but Mark persuaded her. I told her, \u201cI will be your advocate. I need the full shadow of your life.\u201d Once she shared, it transformed my understanding. You rarely get to absorb someone so fully; usually, you\u2019re inventing the gaps. Here, she trusted me with one of the most tumultuous periods of her life.<\/p>\n

\t\tWhen you first watched \u201cThe Smashing Machine\u201d what hit you?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThe second it started, I cried. When you\u2019re making a movie, you\u2019re on the inside looking out; you\u2019re managing the chaos. Then you see it reflected back, and you feel kidnapped into the filmmaker\u2019s vision of the world. With this one, it was deeply emotional for me and for Benny. It means a great deal to both of us.<\/p>\n

\t\tDwayne Johnson was visibly emotional at Venice. What did you see in that moment?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI wasn\u2019t surprised. I\u2019ve seen my enormous friend be very emotional before. Part of it was that Mark Kerr was sitting right beside him, shaking through the entire film\u2014for many reasons. For Mark, it felt like a reclamation of his life. The applause was for his path toward peace, not just for the fighter people remember. For DJ, it was an embrace of what he did as an actor and an invitation to keep going in this dramatic space.<\/p>\n

\t\tAudiences say Johnson is \u201cunrecognizable\u201d here. What was it like opposite him on set?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI never once saw \u201cThe Rock.\u201d The tenderness he shows as Mark is closer to who DJ is, and the pain Mark experiences is closer to DJ\u2019s life than people might imagine. On the day, it was occasionally spooky \u2014 like you were witnessing a possession.<\/p>\n

\t\tYou\u2019re also filming the long-awaited sequel to \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada.\u201d What has that been like?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tOverwhelming \u2014 in a good way. I\u2019ve never experienced a movie being shot with this much attention. We\u2019re trying to keep the mystique \u2014 changing in bathrooms to avoid being seen in costume \u2014 but there are fans everywhere. Playing Emily again feels like slipping into a deranged pair of old slippers. She\u2019s insane, and I love her.<\/p>\n

\t\tAny teases?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tDisney will come swinging if I say anything. We are still shooting. I had a break to put \u201cThe Smashing Machine\u201d out and then I\u2019m back.<\/p>\n

\t\tYou\u2019ve done film and television \u2014 why not Broadway yet?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI started in theater at 18 and I\u2019m increasingly seduced by the idea. John\u2019s [Krasinski] one-man show off-Broadway was the most creative experience of his life, and I saw a wholeness come over him. But my kids are 11 and 9, and I can\u2019t miss bedtime. When they\u2019re disinterested in me \u2014 and that day will come \u2014 I\u2019ll be ready. I\u2019d love something new from a female playwright; Penelope Skinner, who wrote John\u2019s play, was exquisite.<\/p>\n

\t\tWhat are you watching when you\u2019re off the clock?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tCooking shows \u2014 \u201cGreat British Bake Off,\u201d \u201cNext Gen Chef.\u201d I love sports documentaries. I have no interest in watching the actual sport, but I\u2019m riveted by the athlete\u2019s plight \u2014 the pressure to perform. That\u2019s part of why \u201cThe Smashing Machine\u201d appealed to me.<\/p>\n

\t\tYou\u2019ve just wrapped with Steven Spielberg on his new film. What did Spielberg teach you?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI call him \u201cDouble S,\u201d which is a nickname he has never been called before. He and David Koepp wrote me an extraordinary part. Steven is one of the most exquisite humans I\u2019ve met. I grew up on his films\u2014\u201cJaws,\u201d \u201cIndiana Jones,\u201d \u201cSchindler\u2019s List.\u201d Trying to sum up his impact with words almost takes him down a notch. He\u2019s that vast.<\/p>\n

\t\tA formative note you got early on that still guides you?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tPawel Pawlikowski on my first film, \u201cMy Summer of Love,\u201d taught me that ambiguity is interesting on screen. Remove words. Strip away anything derivative. Lean into the unknown inside a scene. That stayed with me.<\/p>\n

\t\tIf you had to leave us with one life note?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tRun toward peace. Things feel chaotic. Try not to lose sleep over it. Find togetherness with the people who make you feel grounded. That\u2019s the work.<\/p>\n

\n\tVariety\u2019s \u201cAwards Circuit\u201d podcast, hosted by Clayton Davis, Jazz Tangcay, Emily Longeretta, Jenelle Riley and Michael Schneider, who also produces, is your one-stop source for lively conversations about the best in film and television. Each episode, \u201cAwards Circuit\u201d features interviews with top film and TV talent and creatives, discussions and debates about awards races and industry headlines, and much more. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or anywhere you download podcasts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Emily Blunt doesn\u2019t believe in half measures. Whether she\u2019s playing a time-looping soldier in \u201cEdge of Tomorrow,\u201d a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":346983,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[164055,185,57038,171,15801,107384,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-346982","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-awards-circuit-podcast","9":"tag-celebrities","10":"tag-emily-blunt","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-oscars","13":"tag-the-smashing-machine","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115472126027718077","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346982\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/346983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}