Blunt plays the fiancée of Lawrence's brother, Ben. When Ben goes missing, she calls on Lawrence to return to his family home and help her find her lost love. But there's someone (or something) killing the villagers of Blackmoor, and Gwen and Lawrence get caught up in the horrific goings-on that have the people of Lawrence's hometown fearing for their lives.
Emily Blunt The Wolfman LA Press Conference
How was it to work with someone as intense as Benicio Del Toro?Emily Blunt: "It was intense. No. He’s awesome to work with. He’s such a rare actor, in that he has a real unique approach to a scene. He’s exciting to work with because he’s quite raw and instinctual, so you don’t really know what he will do in the scene. The scene can really take shape and dance and shape shift, in some ways. I love working like that because there’s a real openness, and you need a co-star who’s going to play with you in that way. He’s a great guy. We had a laugh on the movie. He’s a lot of fun. He’s a big teddy bear. People don’t know that."
Has it gotten any easier for you to work in corsets and Victorian costumes, now that you’ve done it a few times?
Emily Blunt: "I don’t know why I managed to go from one corset to another. I don’t know quite how that happened. It was not my intention. But, I actually love the physical elements of creating a part and once you’ve got the costumes on, they’re so ethereal and alien and they feel so strange, when you first put them on, that you almost don’t have to do anything. You don’t have to worry about moving differently or standing differently because it does everything for you. So, I find the costumes quite transporting, particularly if they’re as beautiful as the ones that I’ve gotten to wear. Milena Canonero designed beautiful, exquisite costumes for this film. They were very creative in that she incorporated a lot of animal materials into them, like furs and feathers. It was really cool, working with her."
"Sometimes it can be a bit restraining, but I think it’s good because, particularly with the Victorian era, you want to create those constraints for the implications of what goes on within the world to be relevant. I appreciate doing the dress-up part of it, but I also like to wear jeans and a t-shirt because then you’re really free."
How was it to work with Anthony Hopkins? Do you have to call him Sir Tony?
Emily Blunt: "No. You call him Tony, and he’s very, very cool. I was riveted by him. I would sit around and talk to him between takes, and he’d tell us wonderful stories. He’s a great mimic. I think 'riveting' is the right word [to describe him]. When you’re acting with him, he’s got such a simplicity to what he does. He’s quite an economical actor, in a way, but then he puts layer upon layer upon layer upon layer, and he’s simmering beneath the surface. It’s masterful to watch - and it’s distracting. I’d watch him in the scene and be like, 'Oh, sh-t! I forgot my line.'"
Can you talk about working in the horror genre and what your familiarity is with it? Are you a fan?
Emily Blunt: "It’s funny because I had never really done the horror genre, and certainly not the monster movie genre, and I love doing something I’ve never done before so that was cool. Benicio is the freak about horror movies. He is so well-researched. He’s seen every one of them, 20 times. But I was a really nervous child, so I never wanted to go watch horror movies. I remember the first one that stands out for me that I watched was The Exorcist and I didn’t sleep for a week. And then I saw Jaws as well, which is kind of a horror movie, in some ways. I’m still a victim of Spielberg. I have a real problem with the ocean and with the depths of the unknown. Maybe that’s what’s so fascinating about monster movies. You’re dealing with a supernatural element and the unknown forces. Maybe that’s why people are so fascinated by the Ouija board, whether ghosts exist and where we go when we die. I think that’s why these movies will always be so relevant and of interest to people. We just don’t know."
Do you feel you had enough time to explore the acting in this film, with all the effects that were going on around you?
Emily Blunt: "Yeah, I did because it was a very collaborative process with Joe [Johnston] and with Benicio and Anthony. If I’d simply been there to run and scream, I wouldn’t have done the movie. I thought the relationships were really tensely written, and we actually collaboratively cut a lot of the dialogue, particularly in the scenes between Benicio and I, to try to capture that essence of forbidden love in a more subtle way, so it’s not so on the nose. I never wanted it to be that she callously leapt from one brother to the other with the greatest of ease. That would be bad. People would be like, 'She’s a slut.' When you’re doing a monster movie, there’s an element that you take second place to and you react to that. It’s not acting. You’re reacting, the whole way through a movie like this. But, I was lucky enough to work with people who were willing to make changes that were beneficial."
"To speak personally about my character, I wanted to make her more pro-active and less passive, and Joe was very cool, in that way, and allowed for that to happen. It was a really atmospheric set as well. The sets were incredible and we had plenty of time. I never felt overwhelmed by the werewolf."
