How Emily Blunt's stutter led her to a successful acting career

On a rainy day last November, Emily Blunt came to our home in Brooklyn to talk to my 11-year-old son Sammy about what they have in common: stuttering. I've been a fan of hers since 2006"The Devil Wears Prada (not to mention "Edge of the Future" , « Sicario" , "Quiet place" and "Mary Poppins is back."), but I became an even bigger fan when I learned that she was actively involved in the American Institute of Stuttering (AIS), an organization that played a big role in our family's life. Sammy has attended the Institute intermittently since the age of seven, and in 2016 he was asked to speak at an annual charity event in New York City. The other two speakers that evening were then Vice President Joe Biden and Bruce Willis, and the entire night began with a video of a very pregnant Emily, who has been hosting the event since 2010. The evening changed our entire lives, especially Sammy's. and I've been following Emily ever since to thank her for the work she's done for stutterers everywhere. It so happened that three years later she showed up at our door, took off her shoes in the lobby, ate our homemade banana bread, petted our dog, and sat down with Sammy. It turns out that in addition to stuttering, they share a love of pranks and a talent for imitation. After the digital recorder was turned off, they performed their favorite imitations of the people in their lives, making us all double over with laughter. I didn't think I could be a big fan, but she proved me wrong. What follows is an abridged account of their dinner, edited in several parts for clarity only.—Ann Fühlenweider

Sammy Blutstein: So you are from England. How do you live in Brooklyn?

Emily Blunt: When I first met my husband, John [Krasinski], I lived in Los Angeles and it was hard because it was like the opposite of what I grew up in, a place with a sense of community, culture and real immediacy and liveliness. And I love to walk around the cities. So moving to Brooklyn really became my home. I think my soul was more suited to Brooklyn. I really like it.

Sammy: I know you stuttered when you were growing up, or maybe you still have?

Emily: Once a stutterer, I feel always a stutterer.

First outfit: Alexander McQueen dress, De Beers necklace, Roger Vivier shoes. Second outfit: Dior dress.

Sammy: On what was school like with your stutter?

Emily: My stuttering really started to show up at about six or seven years old and then became more and more difficult for me, and when I got to 11 or 12 years old it became pretty ingrained. It wasn't all of me; it was part of who I was. There were certain people who liked to define me by that. This was hard. I decided not to spend time with these people. I probably just now came to the conclusion that everyone has something growing. It just happened.

School was interesting because there were certain things that I couldn't and wanted to do, like reciting my poem in class. I would never do it. I would hate it if the teacher asked me to answer something. I don't know what it's like for you, but I think when stutterers are put in a difficult position, it's difficult. I didn't like calling my friends. I could never say my own name if someone said, "What's your name?" Because you can't replace a word, which is what we usually do to find the best stream. You substitute another word that is simpler and you cannot replace your name. So as a child, I quickly realized that any stressful situation was quite difficult for me.

Sammy: Youafter all did you go to boarding school? What was it like? Did you miss your parents?

Emily: I went there when I was 16, so I think I was ready not to miss my parents. And it was a cool boarding school, because the boarding was weekly. I could come home every weekend. No pressure. We called all the teachers by name. So it suddenly felt like a university experience and I dug it out and it was very artistic and very cool. It was like a new invention. Sometimes we all feel like we need to rediscover and reinvent ourselves. And so when you go to the same school for a long time, like me, you kind of define yourself as a certain person in a certain sense, and starting all over again at 16 was very important for me. It must have been like [being at a new school last year], right?

Sammy: Yeah. It was cool. I think half of my friends don't even know that I stutter. They just think that maybe he can't get his words out that fast or something like that.

Emily: What do you think people think about stuttering?

Sammy: My school has a newspaper called the Daily News. And they're pulling people out of this basket that has all of our names on it. And when my name comes up, I have to read the news about what's going on at school. Sometimes I think that when I stutter, people think thathe is a bad reader.

Emily:Right? There are many errors in identification. I love the American Institute of Stuttering and what they teach kids because it's not really about, "Oh, I stutter a lot." It's more like, "I'm very good at stuttering. I'm a brilliant stutterer." It's a kind of reverse psychology. It's really helpful. The [lack of] information or how people misinterpret it is the main problem. Because stutterers are not understood. It's not psychological. It's not that you're nervous, it's not that you're insecure, it's not that you can't read, it's not that you don't know what you want to say. It's neurological, genetic, biological. This is not your fault. There is nothing you can do about it. These are the messages I'm trying to get across so you don't end up in a situation where you read something and people thinkOh, he might be a bad reader.I'm sure you are an excellent reader. A huge percentage of people around the world, millions and millions of people, stutter. I think through AIS you met other stutterers?

Sammy: Yes. Through AIS, I really got to know Joe Biden and Bruce Willis.

Emily: Come on, how cool is that? You were [in AIS] the year Bruce spoke, and you spoke too, didn't you? I couldn't see you because I was about to have my second child. Bruce was really nervous to speak. He didn't want to when I first approached him about it. Then he realized that this is such a cool thing. And how amazing is that? Bruce Willis is so cool that everyone else is spinning on the floor when he walks around the room - and he's a stutterer.

In 2009, AIS presented me with the same Free Voices, Life Changer award that Bruce received. And from that moment I very much separated from all this. I just love what they do. I didn't know what it was or why I stuttered. They just really held together a lot of information for me. Like, it's genetic. This is very noticeable in my family and my uncle, my cousin and my grandfather stuttered.

Sammy: How has stuttering affected your life?

Emily:I think that in a way, when you go through something like stuttering, you become a really good listener. You perceive the world differently. Because you may be less likely to talk when you're going through it. You really start to realize how much is going on around you, so I think I was a very observant child. I was a really empathetic child and still feel like I'm trying to be guided by that.And I encourage my children to empathize and embrace differences, not fear them and tease people about them, you know? Making mistakes or feeling like you have something that makes you make mistakes is good. It's how you learn and how you grow. When you go through something like this, you have a real feeling of kindness. And you must be kind to yourself, and you will be kind to other people.

Sammy: How did you go from a stuttering child to a Hollywood actor?

Emily:Oddly enough, it goes back to stuttering. When I was 12, my class teacher was a very cool guy named Mr. McHale. It was a huge man with a huge mustache. He asked me if I wanted to be in a cool play and I said no. And he said, “But I think you can handle it. I heard you make stupid voices and imitate people. So, if you did it with a stupid voice, would you think about it? Why don't you do it with an accent? And as a child, it was very liberating for me. Suddenly, I began to speak fluently. In a way, removing yourself from yourself was a liberation. I agreed to this and spoke freely. I had a very bad Northern English accent, which I won't even do for you now. That was the beginning of the realization that I got over it and maybe it could be temporary and maybe I can get over it. It was a big deal. That's not the reason I started playing, although it's a good story. Because after this experience, I did not plan to become an actress. I really enjoyed acting, and I enjoyed doing great plays, but I didn't have burning ambitions for it. I was going to university, I wanted to learn Spanish, I wanted to work for the UN; I had all these plans. I have always loved languages. I didn't stutter when I spoke other languages. But then I put on a play at a boarding school that went to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. I was going to university, I wanted to learn Spanish, I wanted to work for the UN; I had all these plans. I have always loved languages. I didn't stutter when I spoke other languages. But then I put on a play at a boarding school that went to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. I was going to university, I wanted to learn Spanish, I wanted to work for the UN; I had all these plans. I have always loved languages. I didn't stutter when I spoke other languages. But then I put on a play at a boarding school that went to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Sammy: This is great.

Emily: The teacher was with me. He called his agent and said, "You need to visit this girl." He came to me and said: “I think you are really good. Do you want to try it? And I said OK. I took it very casually, and that might be a good thing. It's such a competitive, soul-eating business. I liked the audition because there was no pressure on me; I didn't need to win. If it didn't work, no big deal. I just thought I'd give it a try and then fell madly in love with it. I can't imagine anything else. I don't know what I would do, and I would be good for nothing.

Zanotti. Second outfit: Dolce & Gabbana bra and top, Vera Wang pants.

Ann: We have learned about so many actors who stutter. Is there any connection?

Emily: I talked about this with a holistic doctor. He says that most stuttering is an imbalance in the left and right hemispheres of the brain. And in everyday life, when you talk to someone, let's say you access A, B, C, D of your brain. But when you act, when you need to go somewhere emotionally and somewhere other than yourself, you access all this other part of your brain that activates and sets you free. And that's why you have Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Harvey Keitel, Ed Sheeran, James Earl Jones - I mean, it goes on and on and on. Kendrick Lamar, the best rapper in the world, stutters, and when he says poetry, he doesn't stutter. So you're reaching out to a completely different side of your brain with linear memory, with actually removing yourself from the situation, and playing is a kind of higher form of empathy. You sympathize with someone else's dilemma, someone else's life, and so I think it sets you free. I just don't think anyone stutters when they play. I think you should try.

Sammy: Okay. But when you're doing a movie, have you ever had to interrupt a scene because you were confused by a word?

Emily: The only time I feel like I sometimes stutter when I'm playing is in those high-octane scenes where there's an emergency where I have to say, "Get in the car!" or “Where is your bag?” or something like that. I was talking to Samuel L. Jackson when he received an award one day. He said he was doing one of the Marvel movies and he had a scene where he had to say, "Let's get out of here!" and he couldn't say it. It was the scene where one of those crazy explosions happened. Instead, he said, "We have to go!" And they said, “Cut. Sam, line: "Let's get out of here." And he said, "Yes, I understand." He had to pretend like he forgot about it. He went to say it again and said, "We have to go!" And he said, "You know what, I'll just change the line."

These high-octane emotional scenes where I have to demand information from someone are the only moments when I feel like I'm confused.

Sammy: Me and my mom talked about"Quiet place" andMary Poppins . VMary Poppins you spoke very fast. And in"Quiet place" you hardly speak at all.

Emily: Which is much better. Yes, it's really convenient. This is the ideal role for a stutterer to be quiet. That's why we're making another one. I thought, "John, this is a good area for me." If I could justact in films"Quiet place" until the end of his life.

Ann: But inMary Poppins you speak very fast.

Emily: Yes. And it's my own fault. It's my choice. It really was a character choice. It's a really specific, very chic 1930s British accent. I also felt, here she is, this woman who enters the lives of people who live with pain or loss, with a feeling of heaviness and heaviness, and she should be lighter than air. Just come in like a tornado, sweep it all away and fix it again.

I never think about my stutter when it comes to what roles I choose or why I want to do it. I do not even think about it. And any stutters I might have, or things I might trip over, or lines that might be tricky, I'll kind of find a way around them. I think with experience you will find the confidence knowing that you will just find a way around it.

Sammy: Do you like scary movies?

Emily: Not at all.

Sammy: Yes, the same.

Emily: So you see? A trait of stuttering. I feel that once these images appear in my head, they stay there forever. I don't think I can get rid of them and I get scared easily. I don't want to watch scary movies and in fact John has never watched scary movies beforestarred in A Quiet Place.It's funny that he became a horror director and writer because those weren't the kind of movies we'd ever watch. In research for a movie shoot - I mean, his Apple TV is really worried right now about the movies he's bought. Everything fromBabadook beforeWitches . He watched all of them for research. But none of us are necessarily big horror fans.

What I like aboutQuiet place" and I think what people gravitate towards is it's not bloody and horrific, it's a tense and intense viewing experience, but it has deeper themes about how far you would go to protect your family. and that's a big metaphor for fatherhood, one.This idea of ​​letting your kids out into the big bad world and not being able to protect them and that's what all parents feel. At an increased level inquiet place there are aliens who have come to destroy you if you make a sound.

Ann: I am curious. I notice something when Sammy watches Joe Biden speak in a debate. Sammy will say, "See, there he was going to stutter, and he changed the words." He notices and reads it in a completely different way. Do you have this almost spidery feeling that you pick up on the stuttering of others?

Emily: I think you really do have a spider sense if you're a stutterer and I can spot it from a mile away. And I'm sure you can too, Sammy. Because I notice all the tics and all the little idiosyncrasies that people do when they're about to stutter, or they hide it, or they mask it. You notice all the tricks because you do them yourself. It's really interesting that you've been watching Joe and seeing these little rides. Because I think they still are, and it's not at all necessary that this word be messed around. The word confuses you.

Ann: But you Joe Biden and Bruce Willis seem to have found a way to deal with the world's stuttering.

Emily: You know. You will understand.

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