Emily Blunt Recalls Intense 'My Summer of Love' Audition That Launched Her Career

Actress Emily Blunt recently reflected on her first movie audition, which was for the 2004 romance drama 'My Summer of Love.' At the time, Blunt was 19 years old and the film's director, Paweł Pawlikowski, encouraged improvisations rather than providing a script.

Pawlikowski instructed Blunt to imagine seeing her father cheating on his secretary, and he wanted her to react with a range of emotions - from horror and anger to eventually treating the situation as a joke. Blunt said Pawlikowski gave her "no opportunity, but to put my feet to the fire" during the audition, which she initially thought she had handled terribly.

However, Blunt ultimately landed the role, starring opposite Natalie Press in the film. She said the experience was a "big turning point" and "big lesson" for her, as it taught her to embrace ambiguity and spontaneity in her acting, which was "completely terrifying" to her at first.

While 'My Summer of Love' was not a major box office success, it was widely praised by critics and won the best British film prize at the BAFTAs. Blunt's performance was also lauded, with Variety's review calling her "terrific" and praising her for adding a "sense of menace" to the film.

Blunt credits the unconventional audition process for 'My Summer of Love' with laying the foundation for her to take more creative risks and push the boundaries of her acting abilities in the years that followed.