Emily Blunt Once Felt It Was Embarrassing Whenever Actors Talked About Their Acting Process
Quiet Place star Emily Blunt felt it might have been a mistake for actors to be so open about their process. Especially since Blunt wasn’t sure if the process was essential to giving an adequate performance.
Emily Blunt wasn’t sure she believed the process mattered all that much when it came to acting
With every actor being different, some rely on a meticulous process or technique to channel a particular emotion for a scene. Many actors use method acting, for instance, to arrive at the appropriate mental place needed to inform their characters and maximize their performance. Superstars like Emily Blunt, however, might feel that the process isn’t all that necessary to deliver an above average performance.
Speaking to Screen Anarchy, Blunt believed that the ability to act may come down to a person’s genetics. So if someone wasn’t a good actor, all the technique in the world wouldn’t have mattered.
“I think you either can do it or you can’t. I think you can really see it in its purest form in kids. There are kids who can do it and there are kids who can’t. I think actors, when they’re adults, can hide behind other things … technique or ‘The Process’, but you can either just do it or you can’t,” Blunt said.
Blunt made an argument that good acting was more rooted on instinct and a person’s curious nature rather than a specific technique.
“I think those are the best actors I have ever met, the ones who are so interested in you and they’re soaking you up like a sponge. Because that’s what it is. You’ve got to portray real moments and life is surprising. I don’t know if you can fall back on technique in those moments,” she said.
Emily Blunt felt it was embarrassing whenever actors talked about their acting process
When it comes to acting, Blunt has admitted she might differ from her contemporaries who go to extreme lengths for their roles. In a resurfaced interview with Observer (via Digital Spy), Blunt explained this was why she didn’t have a process to her acting.
“I don’t really take it that seriously. Maybe I’m supposed to, but I don’t. I can’t define what the method is. I don’t really think you know what you’re going to do until you do it,” she said.
She also thought actors sharing their methods to the public might have done harm than good to them.
“I think it’s embarrassing to hear people talk about their process because you always sound a bit w**ky. You always imagine people are reading the article going, ‘Oh, get a real job,'” she believed.
Blunt gravitates more towards performances where a process or method can’t really be pinpointed. For Blunt, the more unclear a character was, the more she admired the acting behind it.
“The performances I enjoy are the ones that are hard to read or ambiguous or left-of-center because it makes you look closer and that’s what humans are like – quite mysterious creatures, hard to pinpoint,” Blunt said.
How Emily Blunt used to prepare for her own roles
There was a trick Blunt shared that she tried to do with her own acting in the earlier part of her career. With her native place being England, Blunt’s accent reflects her origins. But in the beginning, Blunt would constantly try to tweak her accent a bit to give herself more range.
“I’ve always loved mimicking people and picking up on voices. I try to change mine for every part I play. I find it helpful and transporting in some way. I’m surrounded by Americans all the time, so if you keep your ears open, you can pick up voices all the time. It’s more of an attitude, rather than an accent,” she once said according to Hindustan Times.
