Emily Bluntjust added another string to her bow.
DEADLINE: Hugo Blick has said that he fitted the part of Cornelia to you.
EMILY BLUNT: Shes the most alive character Ive ever read on a page.
Ciarán Hinds as Richard M. Watts.Diego Lopez Calvin/Drama Republic/BBC/Amazon Studios
She was so spontaneous and free and really unpredictable.
She was so odd in some ways.
Hugos writing doesnt follow the rules and this character doesnt follow any archetype or character youve read before.
But then you realize, oh, no, thats real life, thats what people are like.
I just surrendered to this incredible writing style that had panache, but reality to it.
Theres a sense of theater to how Hugo writes, but he wants you to play everything very real.
And I feel that with Hugo.
I feel we have this kindred thing and I see all of him.
I see everything that hes doing.
I dont know if I offered anything helpful at all to him.
She seems clueless and entitled when she offers Ciaran Hinds character money to free a prisoner.
Im going to give you money and Im going to figure this out because Im posh and rich.
DEADLINE: The scene where you sit opposite Ciaran and eat the calfs testicles!
And then when she challenges him and she eats the calf testicles.
I just will never forget reading that scene going, Im doing this show.
This is amazing, this womans world.
Is it a face-off over eating calf testicles?
Thats a gun-slinging scene with calf testicles!
DEADLINE: Have you ever seen anything like that in a film?
I remember reading it.
The way Hugo wrote it was like, she bites into it and the inside of it dribbles down.
She spits the rest of it out and looks at him defiantly.
On the day when we ate those things, we were just crying with laughter as well.
I just hate the color of it, anything.
And I was like, You have to swallow it.
I said, I cannot listen to you chew that for that long.
DEADLINE: Speaking of Ciaran, the cast is just phenomenal.
How did it all come together?
At what point did you come on and decide to produce?
Id been wanting to produce something, but also to really carry something through from an embryonic stage.
I just was so intoxicated by Hugos writing that it felt like the right project.
Theyll do anything Hugo writes.
It was between three guys.
And I will never forget Chaske just changing the air in the room.
Hes sweet and bouncy and loose and adorable.
And he was still.
Its that still courage to do very little and be that magnetic.
And when he got the Mohawk cut, the Pawnee knot that he had… Hes brilliant.
DEADLINE:Westernshave such a specific set of tropes and are obviously deeply American.
What were your feelings about tackling the genre?
BLUNT: Ive always loved the genre.
I have very early memories of watchingShane, which was one of my mums favorites.
And even the modern Westerns likeGiant, and thenThe Unforgiven.
Theres a sort of urge for that restoration of justice that the Western really pursues.
And yet, its a very specific bang out of justice that these two are seeking.
So it just felt unusual, and she is not the damsel tied to a tree.
There are two very different things about our Western.
I did feel we were going to be able to steer away from something you might have seen before.
DEADLINE: We rarely see female characters like this in a Western.
I also feel like it was interesting to have both of them be these outsiders.
And all they had was each other to survive, and they want to survive for very different reasons.
Both have this fevered need to survive and they need each other.
And Eli goes, Really?
And she goes, My star sign in London, its all the rage.
Ill tell you about it.
Like he needs to be told about it.
All he does is read the stars.
This is his whole soul.
This is the pulse of his soul, this character.
And this is generations before; this is not a fad.
This is his essence.
And her naivety in that moment, thats so childish and funny.
DEADLINE: How are your bow and arrow skills?
BLUNT: Quite good, actually.
Not bad, not terrible.
It is really hard.
And then a few times you let go and it pings on your forearm.
I had endless bruises on my forearm.
Its not a walk in the park.
DEADLINE: How has producing this project influenced your decision to do more of that?
And what kinds of projects do you want to produce?
BLUNT: It just taught me that I loved it.
I just wanted to do more of it.
And then theres another one Im developing now.
And then I also producedPain Hustlers.
Its coming out in October, which again was just such an interesting project.
And I love it.
Its set to the backdrop of the opioid crisis.
This is very much the lifting up the floorboards of the colossal crime behind it.
DEADLINE: Youre talking about the Sackler family.
And its appalling and shocking.
This tonally, is almost likeErin BrockovichmeetsThe Wolf of Wall Street.
Its an incredibly dynamic, visceral piece, and its entertaining as well.
And she gets pulled into that intoxicating world of selling pharmaceuticals and being really good at it.
But at what point do you admit youre dancing with the devil?
What are the lies we tell ourselves?
Were almost picture locked on it now and its really a very unusual piece.
And Id never done anything that political and contemporary.
Im always thrilled to put my feet to the fire and try and rip the face off something new.
But its quite daunting because this crisis has affected so many people in a horrifying way.
DEADLINE: And whats your other producing project in the pipeline?
Its very, very cool.
Kind of Sherlock Holmes-esque.
DEADLINE: And youre starring as Kate?
Shes an amazing character.
Its late 19th century and there is a lot of truth to what were exploring.
But she was such a brilliant spy that theres actually very little information on her.
Then Hugo and I are going to work together again.
Hes written something absolutely extraordinary that came in before the writers strike.
Were going to look to do that.
DEADLINE: What is the prognosis on theEdge of Tomorrowsequel?
BLUNT: Well, I would love to do another one.
I dont know when and I dont know how, but I would love it.
I dont know if my back could take it.
I remember you saying Tom Cruise had a word with you about dealing with the heavy costume.
But I think we just knew I just had to toughen up and get through it.
Its like we have to create something as ambitious as the first one.
How much more mileage can we get out of a repeating day?
Whats the new construct?
I know youve said part three ofA Quiet Placewill be Lupita Nyongos film.
But are you in it even a little bit?
BLUNT: [Smiling] This is Lupitas movie.
Youre not even giving us a little cameo action?
BLUNT: Youll see why when you see it.
It will all make sense.
This is just new chapters of it and new ways of looking at what went down.
I cant say everything.
