As
a youngster, Emily Blunt struggled
to overcome a stammer, and with a teacher’s help eventually overcame it. So
it’s quite a testament that the English actress would eventually make a career
out of speaking, especially as the profession requires her to play different
characters with various accents.
Photo courtesy of Solar Entertainment Corp. |
In
the romantic drama Arthur Newman, she is paired with fellow Brit Colin Firth, in which they both play
Americans. Of course, Blunt is no stranger to American accents. She played a
Yank in Sunshine Cleaning, Charlie Wilson’s War, and last year’s
sci-fi epic Looper, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt. She also lives in
America with her American husband John Krasinski (The Office).
As
Mike, she plays a troubled young woman trying to escape her past who runs into
Firth (playing the title character). His character has faked his death in order
to erase his problems. The two end up on a road trip together from Florida to
Indiana, where Newman (Firth) believes he can start fresh as a professional
golf instructor. The two share some sexy scenes together as their characters
share some intimate moments as they get to know each other.
Directed
by first time feature filmmaker Dante Ariola, Arthur Newman is
a quirky love story about two damaged souls learning to trust and love again.
Both
you and Colin speak with American accents in this. Did you work with the same
dialect coach?
We
did, actually.
Did
you stay in your accents when you weren’t shooting?
We
didn’t, unfortunately, because we’re both Brits. Normally, when I’m shooting, I
stay in the accent. When I did Looper, I was working with this
little boy, so I would stay in the accent more so he wouldn’t get confused, but
I didn’t have a chance with Colin because we’re so completely British.
What
were you attracted to in the script that made you want to play the offbeat
character?
The
script was just completely refreshing in how original it was. It was pretty
uncompromising, actually, and we didn’t want to conform to any genre that could
be summed up in a one-line pitch. I like the idea of the movie that the more we
mask ourselves, the freer we are able to be in ourselves. I think everyone at
one point has wanted to escape or run away and take on a new identity. I don’t
particularly feel these characters are necessarily crazy; they’re just acting
on impulses that a lot of people have.
I
just couldn’t quite put my finger on why I was so drawn to the script. It’s
always quite good when there is ambiguity there and something to play with.
As
an actress, you play different people all the time so does that mean you have
less need to escape in your real life?
As
an actor, I have less need to escape because I (play other people) all the
time. I go away for a few months a year and get to live this strange, insular
Neverland-like experience.
In
the film, you and Colin’s character are heading to Indiana where he is
expecting to take a job as a golf instructor. Do you play golf?
I
like playing golf but I’m terrible. I’m really bad, but I like whizzing around
in the golf cart with some booze in the back. (laughs) That’s probably about as
good as my golf gets.
Was
it fun playing a character whose acting like she’s someone else but isn’t a
very good actress?
Well,
it’s quite fun, actually, acting other parts badly. (laughs) It wasn’t that
challenging, though, because we weren’t playing actors who were really good at
taking on these personas. There was an awkwardness and a sweetness to it that
was really fun.
Have
you ever known anyone like Mike?
I
grew up with someone like her.
Did
you find Colin’s costumes a bit nerdy?
Yeah,
they were so lame. (laughs) I remember the first costume fitting he had, and he
was like, “Is it really embarrassing?” and I was like, “No, it’s amazing.”
There’s
some ambiguity as to what happens to these characters at the end.
I
like that because I think sometimes a tidy resolution can be really
unsatisfying. It’s more exciting to just not know sometimes.
You
and Colin have a few sex scenes where your characters are role-playing but only
once do they make love as themselves. Why do you suppose that is?
Intimacy
is terrifying to both of them so they have to pretend to be other people to
touch each other and be touched, and laugh with each other and do anything that
resembles any kind of connection. I think Mike desperately wants to be touched;
she just doesn’t know how.
You
recently worked with Tom Cruise on the sci-fi action movie All You Need
is Kill. What was it like working with him?
It
was fun (and) quite hardcore! I don’t think I’d ever done anything like that
with the amount of training and physical duress that I had to go through. It
was intense but I loved working with Tom. It was a dream. And (director) Doug
Liman definitely has an unconventional approach to the genre. He’s not a
conformist in any way.
How
did the character change over time with all the re-writes on the picture and
the production starting and stopping?
Well,
(the starting and stopping) was because Tom had to do press (for Jack
Reacher) and we had the Christmas break and everything, so we came back
shortly after that. We were always due to have the break, which is good because
you can edit together what you’ve got and see what you still need. It was a
long process—the whole film— and I only just wrapped it really. For a movie of
that scale, it was surprisingly collaborative.
“ARTHUR
NEWMAN” is released and distributed by
Solar Entertainment Corporation.
showing on Oct. 9.
Nationwide!
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