2001–2004: Early work In November 2001, Blunt made her professional acting debut aged 18 in
Peter Hall's
West End production of the play
The Royal Family, in which she played the granddaughter of
Judi Dench's character. For her performance, Blunt was named "Best Newcomer" by the
Evening Standard. In 2003, Blunt made her screen debut in the British television drama
Boudica, about the life of
the ancient Celtic warrior-queen who fought the
Romans. That same year, she was praised for her performance as the 16th-century
Queen Catherine Howard in the two-part British television drama
Henry VIII. with David Ansen of
Newsweek writing: "Press and Blunt are major discoveries ... they conjure up the role-playing raptures of youth with perfect poetic pitch". Blunt won the
Evening Standard British Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer and was nominated for the
British Independent Film Award for
Most Promising Newcomer. She credited her experience making the film as having an impact on her career choices, stating that it was "such a foray into the great unknown ....[like] putting your feet to the fire" and she "loved that feeling of terror and excitement" and "looked for it ever since". She co-starred as the troubled only child of a
New Labour spin doctor in the British television drama film ''
Gideon's Daughter'', Blunt's performance was deemed a standout, with Clifford Pugh of the
Houston Chronicle asserting that "[Blunt] has many of the film's best lines and steals nearly every scene she's in." Blunt won the
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film for her performance in ''Gideon's Daughter
, and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture for her performance in The Devil Wears Prada
. She also received a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for the latter. At the 79th Academy Awards, she and co-star Anne Hathaway co-presented the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, with both acting as their characters from the film. Blunt also appeared in the independent mystery drama Irresistible (2006). After The Devil Wears Prada'', Streep described Blunt as "the best young actress I've worked with in some time, perhaps ever".
A. O. Scott of
The New York Times agreed, stating "Amy Adams and Emily Blunt [...] attack their roles with vivacity and dedication..." She then starred in
The Great Buck Howard as Valerie Brennan, which premiered at the same festival. Blunt admitted to having little prior knowledge of the Queen, but after consulting her mother, had found her to be "remarkable" and "a very 21st century sort of woman". Blunt's performance earned critical accolades, and she was nominated for the
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama and
Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress, among others.
Owen Gleiberman of
Entertainment Weekly concluded that "Director Jean-Marc Vallée's images have a creamy stateliness, but this is no gilded princess fantasy – it's the story of a budding ruler who learns to control her surroundings, and Blunt makes that journey at once authentic and relevant." That same year, Blunt received the
BAFTA Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year. She starred in the Toby Spanton–directed short film
Curiosity. She also voiced Matilda Mouseling, the mother of the titular character, in the television series
Angelina Ballerina: The Next Steps. In 2010, Blunt played a supporting role in the
period horror film
The Wolfman, starring
Benicio del Toro and
Anthony Hopkins. A re-adaptation of the
1941 film of the same name, it received mainly negative reviews, and according to the
Los Angeles Times was one of the largest box-office failures of all time. Blunt was offered the role of
Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow for
Iron Man 2 (2010), but she was contractually obligated by
20th Century Fox to join the
Jack Black-led comedy film ''
Gulliver's Travels after the studio exercised an option it had for her when she signed on for The Devil Wears Prada''.
2011–2014: Science-fiction and comedy films In 2011, Blunt co-starred with
Matt Damon in the thriller
The Adjustment Bureau, playing a dancer who is being "mysteriously kept apart" from a politician. The film earned generally positive reviews, with critics praising Blunt and Damon's chemistry. Blunt starred in the British romantic comedy-drama
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, directed by
Lasse Hallström. She played a financial adviser who recruits a fisheries expert to help realise a sheikh's vision of bringing the sport of
fly fishing to the
Yemeni desert, resulting in a spiritual journey for both. The film premiered at the
2011 Toronto International Film Festival, receiving positive reviews, as did Blunt's performance.
Kenneth Turan of the
Los Angeles Times noted that "Blunt and [co-star
Ewan McGregor] are two of the most gifted and attractive actors working today, able to play off each other with great style...". Blunt was nominated for the
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical for her performance. Also that year, she made a cameo appearance in
Disney's
The Muppets as
Miss Piggy's receptionist, and starred in the independent comedy-drama ''
Your Sister's Sister.'' In November 2011, Blunt was named the ambassador for the new
Yves Saint Laurent fragrance
Opium. '' at the
2012 Toronto International Film Festival In 2012, Blunt starred in the romantic comedy
The Five-Year Engagement, directed by
Nicholas Stoller and co-starring
Jason Segel, in which she and Segel played a couple whose relationship becomes strained when their engagement is continually extended. The film earned positive reviews, with Elizabeth Weitzman of the
New York Daily News remarking that "Blunt has never been more relaxed, and she and Segel have a believably warm chemistry." She then starred in
Looper, a science fiction action film directed by
Rian Johnson. Blunt played Sara, a tough farm woman and single mother, who falls in love with a time-traveller. The film premiered and was the opening film at the
2012 Toronto International Film Festival, and earned highly positive feedback.
Todd McCarthy of
The Hollywood Reporter credited Blunt for "effectively [revealing] Sara's tough and vulnerable sides". Also that year, she starred in the comedy-drama
Arthur Newman as the troubled Charlotte, who is trying to run away from her past. The film received mixed-to-negative reviews. In 2014, Blunt starred in
Edge of Tomorrow, a film adaptation of the Japanese novel
All You Need Is Kill written by
Hiroshi Sakurazaka. Blunt played Sergeant Rita Vrataski, a Special Forces warrior tasked with training a public relations officer to defeat invading extraterrestrials. Blunt trained three months for her role, "focusing on everything from weights to sprints to yoga, aerial wire work and gymnastics", and studying
Krav Maga. The film was commercially successful, grossing and earned positive reviews. Many critics took note of the atypically dominant role portrayed by Blunt, and Justin Chang of
Variety noted that "Blunt is alert, energized and emotionally present in a none-too-taxing role." For her performance, Blunt won the
Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress in an Action Movie. Blunt played the role of the Baker's Wife in
The Walt Disney Company's
film adaptation of
Stephen Sondheim's musical
Into the Woods, directed by
Rob Marshall and featuring an ensemble cast. Ironically, Blunt was pregnant throughout filming, while playing a character who is barren throughout the film's first act. The film was a commercial success and earned generally positive reviews, with Blunt earning praise for her acting and singing. Richard Corliss of
Time remarked that "When Blunt is onscreen, these woods are alive with the magic of a fractured fairy tale...". She was nominated for her second Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical for her performance.
2015–present: Established actress '' at the
2015 Cannes Film Festival In 2015, Blunt starred in the crime thriller
Sicario, directed by
Denis Villeneuve. Blunt played Kate Macer, a principled
FBI agent assigned to take down the leader of a powerful
Mexican drug cartel. The film was selected to compete for the
Palme d'Or at the
2015 Cannes Film Festival, where it received critical acclaim. Blunt received considerable praise for her performance, with Dan Jolin of
Empire magazine calling it "nuanced", and stating that "her straight-arrow-sharp determination becomes painfully dulled", and while
Peter Bradshaw of
The Guardian found her character implausible, he praised Blunt for "[brazening] out any possible absurdity with great acting focus and front". Blunt was nominated for her second consecutive Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress in an Action Movie. In 2016, Blunt co-starred in ''
The Huntsman: Winter's War, which serves as both a prequel and sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman (2012). The film, directed by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, was mostly dismissed by critics. Blunt then headlined the mystery thriller The Girl on the Train'', directed by
Tate Taylor. Based on
Paula Hawkins's best-selling
novel of the same name, Blunt played Rachel Watson, an alcoholic who becomes involved in a missing person investigation. While the film received mixed reviews from critics, who felt it failed to live up to the novel, Blunt's performance earned considerable praise. Writing for
Rolling Stone,
Peter Travers remarked that "the movie gives away the game faster than the novel", but credited Blunt for "playing the hell out of [her character] and adding a touch of welcome empathy. [She] digs into the role like an actress possessed – there's not an ounce of vanity here, [and she] raise[s]
Girl to the level of spellbinder." She was nominated for the
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role and the
Actor Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role. After providing her voice for the 2017 animated films
My Little Pony: The Movie and
Animal Crackers, Blunt made her return to live action in her husband
John Krasinski's horror film
A Quiet Place, which follows a family being tormented by monstrous creatures that hunt by sound.
Scott Beck and Bryan Woods had begun writing the script in January 2016 based on a concept they conceived in college, and they wanted Blunt for the role of the mother. When Krasinski re-wrote the script, he did so with Blunt in mind for the role, but did not ask her as she had just had a child and was working on another film; he was concerned that if asked she would either decline, or accept it simply to support him: "I just thought if she does this, she has to come to it on her own."
A Quiet Place was the opening night film at the 2018
South by Southwest film festival, where it received critical acclaim; Eric Kohn of IndieWire lauded the cast for "contribut[ing] credible intensity to their scenes with a degree of sophistication rare for this type of material", while Laura Prudom of
IGN remarked that "Blunt, in particular, is put through the wringer in ways that would seem almost farcical, if she didn't play them with such compelling conviction." Blunt played the
title character in Rob Marshall's 2018 musical fantasy film
Mary Poppins Returns. It served as a sequel to the
1964 film, with Blunt taking over the role from
Julie Andrews. Owen Gleiberman of
Variety found Blunt to be "practically perfect in every way" and added that she "inhabits Mary Poppins' snappishly entrancing spirit, and in the musical numbers she generates her own spit-spot radiance". She received two Actor Award nominations for her performances in
A Quiet Place and
Mary Poppins Returns, winning Best Supporting Actress for the former and her sixth Golden Globe nomination for the latter. In 2020, Blunt guest-starred in her husband's internet series
Some Good News, which began streaming on
YouTube during the
COVID-19 pandemic. She starred in the romantic drama
Wild Mountain Thymebased on
John Patrick Shanley's play
Outside Mullingar. The part required her to speak with an Irish accent; neither the film nor her accent were well received. In the same year,
Forbes ranked her as the sixth highest-paid actress in the world, with annual earnings of . Blunt reprised her role in the horror sequel
A Quiet Place Part II (2021), which was released after a year-long delay due to the pandemic. It became one of the first major Hollywood films to be released theatrically since the beginning of the pandemic. Peter Bradshaw bemoaned that the "excellent" Blunt did not have more screen time. As with the first film, it also emerged as a commercial success. Later that year, Blunt starred alongside
Dwayne Johnson in the adventure film
Jungle Cruise, based on the
eponymous amusement ride. It was released simultaneously in cinemas and digitally on
Disney+ Premier Access. Jeannette Catsoulis of
The New York Times disliked the picture saying "not even Emily Blunt, doing her best
Katharine Hepburn impression, can keep this leaky boat ride afloat". The following year, Blunt played an avenging mother in the television miniseries
The English, a western by
Hugo Blick. Critics were impressed with her performance.
Lucy Mangan of
The Guardian said, "Blunt is at her best yet, giving us a woman made brave and undauntable by resolve". She received another
Actor Award nomination for it. In
Christopher Nolan's biographical film
Oppenheimer (2023), starring
Cillian Murphy as
J. Robert Oppenheimer, Blunt portrayed the eponymous scientist's wife
Katherine, who was a member of the
Communist Party USA. She took a pay cut to work on the film, earning in lieu of her usual salary. Nolan said that he thought about "running away" from the character while writing the script as she was "terrifying", but Blunt humanised her and surprised him in how she embraced her negative qualities: "No vanity, no fear of humiliation, no wanting to control the way she would appear". The film was praised, although some criticism was made of the writing for the female characters. Blunt's performance received praise, and was singled out for elevating the limited material she had. Writing for
Empire, Dan Jolin said that Blunt "busts out of the supportive/suffering wife archetype as the alcoholic but sharp-witted Kitty Oppenheimer" and delivers "one of the film's most rousing scenes in an intense verbal duel with bullish lawyer
Roger Robb", and Tomris Laffly of
The Wrap called her performance "subtly scene-stealing". Blunt once again received nominations for the Golden Globe, Actor, and BAFTA Award, With a worldwide gross of over ,
Oppenheimer emerged as Blunt's highest-grossing film. Her next release that year, the
Netflix crime drama
Pain Hustlers opposite
Chris Evans, received poor reviews from critics. Blunt next starred with
Ryan Gosling in
David Leitch's action comedy film
The Fall Guy (2024). For her role as a filmmaker, she drew inspiration from
Greta Gerwig. IGN's Siddhant Adlakha was appreciate of the romantic chemistry between Blunt and Gosling. It did not perform well commercially. She then had a voice role as Unicorn in Krasinski's
live-action animated fantasy film
IF. Blunt next starred in the
Benny Safdie biographical sports drama
The Smashing Machine, starring Dwayne Johnson as
MMA wrestler
Mark Kerr. She played Kerr's girlfriend Dawn Staples. The film received positive reviews, and Blunt received a
Golden Globe nomination. Blunt was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 30 April 2026, as part of a joint ceremony with Stanley Tucci, in recognition of her contributions to motion pictures. Blunt reprised the role of Emily Charlton in
The Devil Wears Prada 2, which was released on 1 May 2026. She is also starring in
Steven Spielberg's science fiction film
Disclosure Day, co-starring
Josh O'Connor, set for release on 12 June 2026. ==Reception==