Celebrities

Emily Blunt says she’s taking a year off to be with her kids

Written by ABC AUDIO ALL RIGHTS RESERVED on July 12, 2023

After working nonstop on projects including the upcoming Oppenheimer, Emily Blunt is pressing pause.

She revealed to Table for Two podcast with Bruce Bozzi, “This year, I’m not working.”

Married to The Office star-turned her Quiet Place director/co-star John Krasinski, Emily is mom to Hazel, 9, and Violet, 6. She admits being a working movie star “does” take a toll on her when it comes to family, adding of her work/life balance, “I never feel I’m doing it right.”

Blunt expresses, “I worked quite a bit last year and my oldest baby is nine, so we’re in the last year of single digits. And I just feel there are cornerstones to their day that are so important when they’re little. It’s ‘Will you wake me up? Will you take me to school? Will you pick me up? Will you put me to bed?’ And I just need me to be there for all of them for a good stretch.”

She says she had a “beautiful time” making her forthcoming projects, but notes, “The ones that are time-consuming, I think for me, are becoming fewer and further between because of the emotional cost on me, on the kids.”

Blunt says she’s “very prone to guilt,” adding, “I think maybe all mothers are.”

“You’re just prone to feeling bad for, God forbid, wanting something outside of being a mother….,” she explains. “I’m a huge advocate for women being ambitious. ‘Ambition’ is just dreams with purpose, it’s not an ugly word.”

She also says it’s “so important” that her daughters see her doing something she loves.

“Of course, they’re just horrified by the fact that I’m an actress, they’re just sort of so embarrassed by it, and have no desire to watch me in anything,” Blunt jokes. “Which is very healthy, ’cause they just want me to be their mum.”