Blunt made her professional debut in Bliss, a new musical written by Paul Sellar, at the 2000 Edinburgh Fringe while she was still an A-level student. She also had a speech condition of stuttering and is now a supporter for a better life for people who stutter. She went on to perform at the National Theatre and at Chichester Festival Theatre. In 2003, she made her screen debut in the British television drama Boudica, about the life of the ancient British warrior-queen who fought the Romans. She also won considerable praise for her performance as the 16th-century queen Catherine Howard in the two-part British television drama Henry VIII.
Blunt's breakout role was as Tamsin in the dark British movie, My Summer of Love in 2004, which depicted a story of deception and lesbian love in the English countryside. She shared an Evening Standard British Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer with co-star Natalie Press.
In 2005, she co-starred with Bill Nighy and Miranda Richardson in the British TV drama Gideon's Daughter, an original screenplay written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff, in which she played the troubled only child of New Labour spin doctor Gideon Warner, played by Nighy. Blunt won a Golden Globe for her performance.
In 2006, she starred opposite Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway in the box-office success The Devil Wears Prada. Streep and Hathaway received most of the critical attention initially, but Blunt proved to be equally memorable with Entertainment Weekly naming her the Best Female Scene-Stealer in their end-of-summer special issue. She appeared at the 79th Academy Awards where she co-presented the award for best costume design with her Prada co-star Hathaway.
Blunt and Hathaway lost weight for their roles in the film. In an interview with Us Weekly, Hathaway said “I basically stuck with fruit, vegetables and fish (to slim down for the movie). I wouldn't recommend that. Emily Blunt and I would clutch at each other and cry because we were so hungry." Blunt also spoke about the weight loss, claiming she had to go "painfully thin".
Blunt co-starred with Susan Sarandon in the independent drama Irresistible. When Sarandon became attached to starring in another movie, The Girl In The Park, she strongly suggested that director David Auburn should cast her. Blunt did audition for the part, which she almost received but lost to Kate Bosworth. In 2007, she appeared in the film Charlie Wilson's War.
In 2009, she played Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom in The Young Victoria, directed by Jean-Marc Vallée and written by Julian Fellowes. The movie co-starred Miranda Richardson and Rupert Friend as the queen's husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. She also starred in the Toby Spanton-directed short film Curiosity. She was director Jon Favreau's first choice to play the Black Widow in Iron Man 2 but scheduling conflicts with Gulliver's Travels forced her to cede the role to Scarlett Johansson.
In 2010, Blunt co-starred with Academy Award winners Benicio Del Toro and Sir Anthony Hopkins in the big-budget movie The Wolfman which was released 12th February. She also is set to star in Gulliver's Travels and in The Adjustment Bureau alongside Matt Damon as a ballet dancer "being mysteriously kept apart" from Damon's character. Emily was offered the female lead in the forthcoming Captain America movie but turned it down.
