There was a time Emily Blunt feared she might never find her voice. Growing up in a leafy London suburb, she was plagued by a stutter so severe that her parents worried their shy, withdrawn child would struggle to succeed in life.
Today, of course, she is one of Britain's biggest stars, with a portfolio of Hollywood blockbusters that have taken a staggering $5 billion at the global box office and earned her a reported $80 million (£59 million) fortune.
Now she is starring in what could become her biggest hit yet – Steven Spielberg's sci-fi thriller Disclosure Day, which opens in the UK on June 10 and is tipped to win her an Oscar.
The latest trailer, released this week, has lit up social media as Emily, playing small-town weather girl Margaret Fairchild, breaks down live on air and 'channels' alien life by making eerie clicking sounds. The deeply unsettling noise freaked out fans, with one writing on X: 'That clicking sound genuinely made my skin crawl.' Another declared: 'Emily Blunt just unlocked a new fear.'
Some speculated that Spielberg used AI to create the other-worldly 'language', but it was Emily who improvised the noises during the four-minute scene. She explained: 'There are various ways you could do it. You could go the AI route, which I'm a bit terrified of. I thought that I could make some really strange sounds so I said, "Maybe I could come in and we'll just do a range of weird sounds?"' A sound designer then pulled together the finished product, an eerie mix of clicking, breathing, consonants, and humming.
Critics have hailed the movie as Spielberg's best in decades. One studio executive told The Mail on Sunday: 'I'm convinced Emily will win an Oscar for it. It's an outstanding performance and she totally steals the movie from Josh O'Connor and Colin Firth.' They insisted: 'This film sits alongside ET and Close Encounters as one of Spielberg's best, and Emily is the beating heart of it.'
Emily has already proved she is the most bankable British star of all time, thanks to The Devil Wears Prada and its highly anticipated sequel, which has taken more than £445.8 million since its release. Her other biggest-grossing films include Oppenheimer (£724 million), A Quiet Place and its sequel (£371 million), and Edge of Tomorrow (£275 million).
An early colleague says the star is 'known as one of the nicest people to work with'. 'She's fiercely professional and always comes prepared but she's kind and empathetic on set, probably because of the struggles she went through to communicate as a kid,' the former colleague adds.
The actress has spoken candidly about her stammer, revealing that at its worst she could barely get any words out. Born the second of four children into an upper middle-class family in Roehampton, south-west London, her barrister father Oliver and mother Joanna, a former actress turned teacher, did everything they could to help. Emily said: 'I was a very intelligent child and had a lot to say but I just couldn't say it. My parents were fantastic and hired speech therapists but I was painfully self-conscious at school.'
Reading aloud became a 'source of constant fear', while ordering food in restaurants triggered panic attacks and even saying her own name was a struggle. 'You can substitute other words for ones you know will trip you up but when it comes to saying my own name I can't substitute that. I still suffer and it gets worse under stress or fatigue.'
The turning point came when she was 12 and a teacher encouraged her to try acting after noticing Emily's stutter disappeared when she put on a jokey northern accent. Blunt has described acting as something that 'freed' her. 'When I altered my voice or rhythm of speech the stammer began to disappear.'
As her confidence grew, so did her ambition. She studied drama at Hurtwood House, a creative arts school in Surrey, and landed small roles in TV shows like Foyle's War and the BBC film Gideon's Daughter. Then came a supporting role in a film her agent described as 'a small fashion movie'. That film was 2006's The Devil Wears Prada, and Emily's brilliant portrayal of a caustic, calorie-counting personal assistant made her the toast of Hollywood.
'She is so versatile,' the studio executive said. 'There are very few actresses who can hold their own with Tom Cruise in an action movie and opposite Meryl Streep in a comedy. Emily is the total package.'
She moved to Hollywood and dated Canadian singer Michael Bublé for nearly three years before meeting actor John Krasinski, star of the US version of The Office, at a restaurant. Krasinski has joked about having 'instantaneous, staggering infatuation' and believed that 'she was totally out of my league'. That fear was seemingly reinforced by a stoney-faced immigration officer at Heathrow who, incredulous, exclaimed: 'You?! She chose you?'
The couple tied the knot in July 2010 at George Clooney's estate Villa Oleandra in Lake Como, Italy. The colleague said: 'They've got a reputation as being one of the happiest couples in Hollywood. When you see them together they are genuinely affectionate and very funny. They're always giggling on the red carpet. Emily is self-deprecating and charming. Everyone loves her.'
The couple live in an £8 million brownstone in Brooklyn and have two daughters, Hazel, 12, and Violet, nine. Their tight circle of friends includes Emily's older sister, literary agent Felicity Blunt, who is married to actor Stanley Tucci, Emily's Devil Wears Prada co-star.
Krasinski boosted the couple's fortune when he wrote, produced, and directed his wife in the 2018 thriller A Quiet Place and its sequel. The couple had a 'back-end deal' to share profits from the films, which took £371 million at the global box office. Their combined fortune is now a reported £111 million.
While Spielberg has kept details of Disclosure Day's plot under wraps, Emily is in the middle of a promotional tour, with the UK premiere in London on Thursday. She 'screamed in delight' when Spielberg first phoned her about the film, which was so shrouded in secrecy the script was printed on paper that was impossible to copy. She said: 'I was so awestruck to get his call. I was trying not to dork out and talk to him about the endless scenes from Jaws that I've been obsessed with for years. I saw Jaws when I was eight years old. It's my favourite film.'
The acclaimed director, who has won three Oscars, called Emily's four-minute uninterrupted take when she created the alien 'voice' as one of the most brilliant performances he has ever seen. Spielberg placed one microphone near her lips and another against her throat to capture the guttural sounds. He has also teased that he believes aliens are real, saying: 'I am much more inclined now than I was when I made Close Encounters to believe that we're not the only intelligent civilisation in the universe.'
Film critic Steve Weintraub from the Collider website saw the film and said: 'In a shock to absolutely no one, Steven Spielberg has delivered another towering home-run with Disclosure Day. I could go on and on about what I loved but I was lucky enough to see the movie knowing almost nothing and I strongly recommend you do the same. Emily Blunt is incredible. I know big summer movies aren't usually the kinds of performances that get awards-season attention but once people see what she does in this…'
Indeed, it promises to be a performance to match her stratospheric career, which has seen her overcome a childhood stutter in the most stellar way imaginable.
