Emily Blunt may be a certified, A-list star now. But back in 2006, she was relatively unknown, landing one of her first big breakout roles in “The Devil Wears Prada.” The classic rom-com, which is based on the novel of the same name, stars Anne Hathaway as Andy, a journalist who gets a job as a junior assistant to Miranda Priestly, a fierce and icy New York City fashion editor played brilliantly by Meryl Streep.
Blunt plays Miranda’s senior assistant, Emily, who gives Andy a less-than-pleasant welcome to her new job — and doesn’t really warm up to her much throughout the movie.
Even though Blunt’s character isn’t the most lovable one in “The Devil Wears Prada,” it’s a movie filled to the brim with anti-heroes, and you find yourself rooting for every sassy underdog under Miranda’s thumb — no matter how mean they’ve been to Andy (obviously her friends and boyfriend who undermine her career are a notable exception to this). Plus, the movie thrust Blunt to stardom, and thank goodness for that, because she’s an incredibly talented actor (and director).
But for years, we’ve had a huge question: What do Blunt’s daughters think of her breakout role?
Blunt shares two daughters — 10-year-old Hazel and 7-year-old Violet — with her husband, John Krasinski. In an interview with Page Six last week, she revealed that they’ve seen “The Devil Wears Prada,” and they think her character is “the meanest person they’ve ever met.”
Well, we can’t argue with them there.
“It’s incredible that it has such an indelible fingerprint on people,” Blunt said, speaking about the role’s enduring popularity. “It’s people’s standby feel-good movie. It’s quoted to me on a weekly basis.”
She also noted that she didn’t really know what she was getting into at the time she filmed it.
“At the time I was young, it was my first big movie,” she said. “I remember my agent calling me and telling me about the opening weekend. I was like, ‘Is that good?’ Like I didn’t know what was good.”
For the record, “The Devil Wears Prada” grossed $104 million at the box office internationally in its opening weekend. Yes, it was good. It also got Streep nominated for Best Actress at the 2007 Academy Awards, which she definitely deserved.
While we can’t argue with Blunt’s daughters’ assessment of her character, it doesn’t make us love the movie any less — and we hope they love it too.
