Emily Blunt is currently on the promo trail for her eagerly-awaited new movie, The Girl On The Train.
The British actress has just given a fantastic interview to ‘The Hollywood Reporter’ in which she talks about how making the movie – a mystery-thriller about an alcoholic who may or may not have witnessed a murder – made her think about the ways that women are portrayed on and off screen.
“A woman is a drunk, a whore, whereas the guy’s like a partyer, a player,” Blunt said. “I’ve been around both women who drink too much and guys who drink too much, and it’s just as ugly on the guys. It makes me crazy. I don’t think that women should be seen as any less sexual than a guy. And maybe she doesn’t want to settle down, and that’s OK. And maybe she doesn’t want a kid, and that’s OK. And she’s just happy playing the field. There’s so much judgment with women.”
Blunt also talks about the issue of “likability” when it comes to female characters.
“With so many movies, women are held to what a man considers a feminine ideal,” she said. “You have to be pretty. You have to be ‘likable,’ which is my least favourite bloody word in the industry. Rachel isn’t ‘likable’. What does that mean? To be witty and pretty and hold it together and be there for the guy? And he can just be a total drip?”
The movie is adapted from Paula Hawkins’ bestseller of the same name. The book went on to sell 2 million copies in the first three months of its release last year, and has sold some 11 million copies worldwide since.
As you’d expect from those staggering sales figures, Hawkins has earned a fair amount of money from her creation. Indeed, Forbes magazine recently listed Hawkins’ earnings as $10 million (€9 million) for the last year. The Girl On The Train is released in Irish cinemas next Friday, October 7.
