The Office star John Krasinski and Emily married in 2010 (Picture: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
Emily Blunt has revealed how her husband John Krasinski encouraged her to accept the recognition for additional work she’d done behind-the-scenes on projects, having previously received just an acting credit when she could have also taken on a producer title.
The acclaimed actress, who’s previously starred in films including The Devil Wears Prada, Mary Poppins Returns and Edge of Tomorrow, currently stars in The English, a BBC Two western drama written and directed by Hugo Blick.
Emily plays Lady Cornelia Locke, an English woman seeking out revenge in the American West in the late 1800s, while The Twilight Saga star Chaske Spencer portrays Eli Whipp, an ex-cavalry scout and member of the Pawnee Nation who joins her on her quest.
While speaking to Metro.co.uk and other media about the mini-series, Emily was asked whether it was a natural career progression for her to start doing more work behind-the-scenes, given she’s an executive producer on The English.
The Golden Globe winner outlined how she’s ‘always very involved in every aspect of whatever I do, whether there’s a title above that work that I contribute with or not’.
‘In many ways, I’ve never asked for a producing title. Even though I feel often my absorption in the whole process would have been… I mean, my husband’s been saying for years, I should probably ask for one and I was like, “no I shouldn’t”,’ she explained.
Cornelia is desperate for vengeance in The English (Picture: Drama Republic/BBC/Amazon Studios)
Chaske Spencer’s Eli helps Cornelia in the Wild West (Picture: Diego Lopez Calvin/BBC/PA)
‘I think it made sense in this case. When I was sent the project in its embryonic stages, it felt like the right fit for this one. And it is a project that has captured my heart. It has dwelled in me for the longest time period of any projects I’ve done.’
Emily added that she always tries to ‘contribute as much as possible’, recalling how on previous film productions, she has ‘been involved in recrafting things where it needs to happen’.
‘I think I’m really bad at organising people. I think I’d be really bad at that sort of part of producing, but I think I like the creative side of producing,’ she added.
As for what it was like to work with Emily as a producer, Hugo stated that The English ‘would not be what it is without Emily’s consistent, creative presence in its construction from the word go’.
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Hugo said that Emily became involved very quickly with the pilot script, so that when it came to writing the scripts, he ‘kind of bespoke them around both her strengths and her interests in the character’.
‘That followed through into the filming, and particularly into the edit,’ he recollected, sharing how Emily was involved in ‘every single’ edit that was made.
‘We just fascinated upon the story, it had a very strong heartbeat. And it still seemed to want to have our intention,’ he said.
‘Projects call to you like that, some projects shrug you off, and are not that interested in your present. This one just called our attention. And we saw it all the way through to the end, and it worked from every little detail.
‘I think everybody focused in that way in their contribution. The project really wanted to be told.’
The English returns next Thursday at 9pm on BBC Two. All six episodes are available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
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The actress said her husband had been encouraging her ‘for years’.
