Emily Blunt has had an awe-inspiring career leading up to her supporting role in the upcoming Christopher Nolan film Oppenheimer, but she recently revealed she plans to take a break to dedicate herself to her family.
The actress has starred in numerous hit movies over the last 10 years, including A Quiet Place, Sicario, and Edge of Tomorrow. With such a frantic work schedule over the last couple of years, the struggle of being away from the people she cherishes the most has taken its toll.
As a result, Blunt has decided to take some time off to focus less on Hollywood and more on her children. She made the revelation while appearing on the Table for Two podcast in the lead-up to the release of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer where she plays Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer the wife of J. Robert Oppenheimer. The film chronicles Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the first atomic bomb in Nolan’s highly anticipated film.
The show’s host Bruce Bozzi asked her, “Do you find– Two things, one is like having to stay in like the top form that you’re in, which you are, so it seems to be part of the business that you’re in, and then also making sure everything– because you know being a mother, being a professional person it takes it’s toll. So how do you manage that?”
She responded, “It does [take it’s toll]. … Well, not always well. It’s one of those things when people are like, ‘How do you balance it?’ I never feel like I’m doing it right, you know.”
“But this year I’m not working,” Blunt revealed. “I just need to be– I worked quite a bit last year and my oldest baby is 9. We’re in the last year of single digits, and I just feel there are cornerstones to their day that are so important when they’re little. And it’s, ‘Will you wake me up? Will you take me to school? Will you pick me up? Will you put me to bed?’ And I just need to be there for all of them, for a good stretch. And I just felt that in my bones.”
Blunt is married to actor John Krasinski and the couple have two daughters. But being two high profile actors with very busy schedules, makes the challenges of parenthood much more amplified in a town that makes it difficult to choose family over your career.
Blunt explained, “I had a beautiful time on the projects I did last year. Some were more intense than others. Some were harder than others. Some were more time consuming than others. And the ones that are time consuming, I think for me, are be coming fewer and further between because of just the emotional cost on me, the kids, on balance. And I’m very prone to guilt, and I think all mothers are. You’re just prone to feeling bad for god forbid wanting something outside of being a mother.
“I am a huge advocate for it,” she continued. “I am a huge advocate for women being ambitious. I love the word ambition. It’s just dreams with purpose. That’s all it is. It’s not an ugly word. … And I want my kids to grow up and find something that they adore doing.”
Blunt then explained she doesn’t usually find a balance, but rather is either all in or all out.
“The balance is– Usually it sways in extremes. Like I’ll work too much and then I’ll have a complete reaction against it, and an version to being on a film set for a long time. And then I’ll want to desperately work again. I don’t know if I’ll do it moderately I’ll have these pulls towards it and against it,” she said.
She went on to detail, “When I work, which I also love about it. I find it a heart-racing experience when I work. I love it. There’s clearly this fire in me that I need to give room to, but I race with it for months leading up and then during and… So when I finish a project and once it’s sort of expelled from me, I sleep again. So I don’t know if I sleep great or think straight when I’m working.”
While some were concerned that Blunt was announcing a long-term resignation from the acting profession, the actress assured Deadline that she is not quitting acting and that her sabbatical will only be in the short term.
“Honestly, that story got so overblown. I was just kind of taking a little downtime. I’m not quitting Hollywood. I just was taking some months off to be with the kids,” she said.
Emily Blunt addresses the recent reports that she’s taking an extended break from acting #Oppenheimer pic.twitter.com/Lycsnfl3NE
— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) July 13, 2023
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Fortunately for Emily, due to the recent writers and actors strike, she will have a lot of time in the future to spend with family, Blunt and the cast of the highly anticipated film Oppenheimer left the London premiere last week in the wake of the announcement of the SAG-AFTRA strike in Hollywood.
Blunt and her co-stars showed solidarity with their fellow actors in the United States as the Screen Actors Guild continues to fight with major studios over the issues of pay as well as the inclusion of AI in various forms of filmmaking.
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