Hollywood star Emily Blunt slams ‘vile’ director who ‘took her down a peg or two’ during audition aged 19
ACTRESS Emily Blunt has branded a Hollywood director “cruel” — claiming he “loved taking her down a peg or two” at an audition.
The Oscar-nominated Brit, 41, revealed she was left feeling “a shell of her former self” by Russian Andrei Konchalovsky.
Emily, who was 19 at the time, said she was trying out for a role as a young lover for Sir Patrick Stewart’s King Henry II in the 2003 movie The Lion in Winter.
She said of the director: “He was really cruel in the audition and loved taking me down a peg or two.
“It was a very misogynistic vibe and I just remember feeling like a shell of my former myself by the time I came out.
“That one stands out to me as one that was horrible because you just feel so reduced.”
Talking about her career at an event for a US foundation that supports actors in December last year, Blunt said she could not recall Konchalovsky’s name.
She added: “I should just say he was vile . . . really horrible.
“Of course we are not always unflappable. You are going to get your feelings hurt — it is how it goes.
“There is an element of living in the trenches with this job sometimes.
“It can be painful and it can be as beautiful as it can be painful and I was ready for that.
“There is an element of bracing for impact a bit sometimes with this job but it was a bit of a low point.”
Konchalovsky, 86, eventually cast his wife Julia Vysotskaya, 50, in the movie which starred Glenn Close.
It was a remake of the 1968 original with Peter O’Toole and Katharine Hepburn.
Meanwhile, Emily’s new action comedy The Fall Guy — loosely based on the 1980s TV series starring Lee Majors — hit cinemas this week.
She stars alongside Ryan Gosling, 43, who plays movie stuntman Colt Seavers.
London-born Emily, who has two kids with US actor John Krasinski, was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at this year’s Oscars for her role in Oppenheimer.
Her film credits also include The Devil Wears Prada with Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep.
Of the film, she said: “I was very starstruck by Meryl. Maybe the more I got to know her, the easier I felt.
“I’m always very excited to meet certain actors that are heroes of mine.”
Konchalovsky was approached for comment.