Home / Arts and Entertainment / Blunt on 'Smashing Machine': Facing Fear for Deeply Altering Scenes
Blunt on 'Smashing Machine': Facing Fear for Deeply Altering Scenes
11 Dec, 2025
Summary
- Blunt describes filming a brutal argument scene that was life-altering for her character.
- She found playing Dawn Staples in 'The Smashing Machine' to be a challenging, almost terrifying experience.
- Blunt shared how Stanley Tucci met her sister and joined the family through her wedding.
Emily Blunt is preparing for a challenging role in the A24 film 'The Smashing Machine,' directed by Benny Safdie. Starring alongside Dwayne Johnson, Blunt plays Dawn Staples, the partner of MMA fighter Mark Kerr. She described a particularly difficult argument scene as being "life-altering" for the characters, admitting that such intense performances are hard to recover from and fill her with dread leading up to filming.
Blunt reflected on her experience playing Staples, noting the significant emotional impact of embodying the character. She mentioned that the brutality of some scenes blurred into a "messy" experience, leaving the cast shaken. Despite the difficulty, Blunt acknowledges that this emotional depth is part of the process, even if it's not something she relishes.
Beyond her current projects, Blunt also reminisced about 'The Devil Wears Prada,' fondly recalling how her brother-in-law, Stanley Tucci, met her sister at her wedding and subsequently became a part of her family. She also teased updates on the next installment of 'A Quiet Place,' which is currently in development.
