Emily Blunt Believed Becoming a Pop Star Would’ve Hurt Her Acting Career

Emily Blunt has proven to be more than a capable singer in films like Mary Poppins Returns. But there was a moment when Blunt had the chance to become a professional singer for a living. She would later turn down the opportunity, however, as Blunt believed pop stardom would hurt her acting career.

Emily Blunt almost signed a record deal

Blunt has carved out quite the niche for herself in Hollywood. But the Jungle Cruise star nearly left a different mar in the entertainment industry when she almost signed a recording contract. But she felt doing so would’ve had serious repercussions for her acting career, which became her real passion.

“The night before we were about to sign a deal, I just knew it wasn’t right and it wasn’t what I wanted to do, and I very unprofessionally pulled out at the last minute and upset everyone. I felt I wouldn’t be taken seriously as an actress if I was up on a stage bumping and grinding,” she once said in an interview with GQ.

Apart from that, Blunt also felt like executives were trying to turn her into Britney Spears. Which she didn’t appreciate.

“And I was like, ‘I can’t dance, and I don’t sing like Britney Spears’. I just felt it was snowballing too fast and it wasn’t ultimately what I wanted to do,” Blunt told Sunday Morning Herald.

Dame Judi Dench also talked Emily Blunt out of a singing career

Blunt didn’t make the difficult decision to stick to acting completely on her own. The Devil Wears Prada actor had help from veteran star Dame Judi Dench. In an interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Blunt went into a little more detail about her very short singing career. According to the actor, she made an honest attempt to become who executives wanted her to be.

“They said, ‘I think you have a nice voice and I think that you could be a pop star.’ I said, ‘I can’t dance.’ They said, ‘Don’t worry about it. We’ll teach you.’ It didn’t work. I tried to learn,” she said.

But it was a conversation with Judi Dench that solidified Blunt’s decision to stick with a career in film.

“My first job was with Judi Dench—yeah, the Dame—which was incredible and she was wonderful to me,” Blunt said. “And I went to her for advice because I was really, really nervous about this career that I didn’t know was right for me—I didn’t think was right for me—and she was like, ‘Oh no, darling. You can’t do both. You can’t act and do that.’ She talked me out of it.”

Emily Blunt doesn’t like singing in front of a large crowd

Another reason why the Edge of Tomorrow star might have rejected singing in favor of acting was because of how personal singing is. Speaking to Herald Sun, Blunt shared that she didn’t enjoy singing in a crowd.

“I much prefer singing alone in the car or in the shower or by myself in the house,” Blunt said. “I was never that person at a party who would want to sing in front of people.”