Emily Blunt is an actress who boasts Meryl Streep-levels of versatility. From an uppity Fashion Girl in The Devil Wears Prada to an alien-fighting war hero in The Edge of Tomorrow to a modern Mary Poppins, she’s a chameleon, to put it lightly. So, what influences the A-list star’s decision to take or turn down a role? Well, she actually has a specific set of criteria.

The kind of parts Blunt is inclined to reject are those that feel too ‘stoic’ to her. And the three words that tell her that a role will be dull? “Strong female lead”.

“It’s the worst thing ever when you open a script and read the words ‘strong female lead’,” she told The Telegraph, adding that it instantly feels like a snooze. “That makes me roll my eyes—I’m already out. I’m bored.”

‘Those roles are written as incredibly stoic,” she explained. “You spend the whole time acting tough and saying tough things.”

The 40-year-old, who has played some rather tough females in the past, said she prefers playing characters with a ‘secret’.

Emily Blunt as Mary Poppins / Image credit: Disney
Having just starred alongside Cillian Murphy as Kitty Oppenheimer in the biopic Oppenheimer, Blunt called out some of the double standards that women can face in Hollywood earlier this year.

Speaking to The Guardian, she opened up about the expectations of women to portray palatable characters.

“I think there is still a pressure to be likeable and sort of warm and understood, and men are not held to that same standard,” she said. “No one cared if Leonardo DiCaprio was likeable in The Wolf of Wall Street.”

When asked if she believed women were more outspoken, the actress clarified that there are certain hurdles they face. “I could generalise and say a lot of women tend to try to dance around things because we’re not often given a platform to speak honestly,” she said. “Or you’re considered too ambitious or emotional if someone appears to be speaking their mind with spirited opinion.”