The co-star who convinced Emily Blunt that acting is a real job: “He was so adamant about it”

Posted On February 6, 2025February 6, 2025

Getting ahead as an actor is a question of talent, luck, and, perhaps above all else, self-belief. If a performer doesn’t think that they’re worth watching, then why should anyone else bother? In a world as volatile and imperfect as this one, it can sometimes seem silly to want to follow a dream of prancing about on stage or in front of a camera. One person who knows this all too well is Emily Blunt.

Star of The Devil Wears Prada, Oppenheimer, and the ‘Quiet Place’ series, Blunt is one of the most recognisable British actors of the past few decades. She has built a stunning repertoire of roles and, having only recently entered her 40s, still has a long way to go in her career. However, things could have been very different had she let her self-doubts get in the way.

While promoting the 2010 version of Gulliver’s Travels to The Guardian, Blunt confessed that she often felt a sense of unworthiness for following acting as a career. It was only after a conversation with one of her co-stars that she started to change her mind. “I was speaking to Billy Connolly the other day, and we were talking about the work he’s done for Comic Relief and all that he’s done in Africa, and I was saying, ‘Gosh, sometimes I just wonder if I have a worthwhile job’,” she recalled. “He said: ‘I’m going to stop you there. You have an incredibly important job. You offer people an escape, you offer people a way out and some relief from anything they might be going through and it’s a very important job.’ Because he was so adamant about it and spoke very passionately about why it was an important job, it’s the first time I’ve realised that it might be that.”

Blunt’s opinion was certainly influenced by her mother, Joanna Mackie. An actor in her own right, Mackie gave up her career to look after her four children. Her father, Oliver Blunt, a barrister, maintained his position. If her own mother thought acting wasn’t ‘worthy’ enough to pursue, then why would she be encouraged to give it a go?

It didn’t help that the future Oscar nominee suffered from a stammer as a child. Between the ages of seven and 14, Blunt wasn’t much of a talker; instead, she preferred to silently enjoy people’s company and express herself through music. In an ironic twist, it was her mother who suggested she take part in a school play to increase her confidence. “That was liberating for me because I think if you distance yourself from being yourself, it sort of flicks a switch,” she explained. “It’s like a record that’s skipping and you can put it back on.” Blunt was able to overcome her affliction and now sits on the board of directors of the American Institute for Stuttering. 

A renewed vigour for acting wasn’t the only thing Connolly passed on to Blunt during the making of Gulliver’s Travels. She revealed to Digital Spy that she had taken up the ukulele after watching the Scottish comedian and Jack Black play one during a break in filming.

It can often seem like the world values artistic skills less than more ‘traditional’ vocations, but life would be a lot less fun without our favourite actors’ great work. Things would certainly be a lot more bland if Blunt had given up on her career. It turns out we all owe Billy Connolly a massive debt. 

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