Emily Blunt has become a jack of all trades due to her dynamic performances for different genres in the film industry. From her breakthrough film, Gideon’s Daughter and The Devil Wears Prada, she continued to explore different roles and cemented her name with some of the major projects in the acting world. But her immense success also affected her in several ways as the actress once turned down a project starring Dwayne Johnson.
Dwayne Johnson is a huge name in Hollywood who successfully dominated the entertainment sector after winning several hearts as The Rock in the wrestling world. However, his interaction with the former happened in quite a scenario.
Emily Blunt Rejected The Jungle Cruise Film Twice!
The 40-year-old actress Emily Blunt was originally uninterested when she was approached for the leading role in the Jungle Cruise film. Not just once, but twice rejected the role as she was busy filming for two films, Mary Poppins Returns and A Quiet Place back-to-back.
She even declined to read the script for the film and remained adamant about her decision even after the chief of Disney’s live-action studio, Sean Bailey approached her with a heartfelt letter.
The situation was quite grave but the film was keen on having her onboard as the main star alongside Dwayne Johnson who told The Hollywood Reporter back in 2021,
“I had always admired her as an actor, but also when I would watch her on talk shows, she had this personality that was effervescent, that was cool and very, very charming.”
He felt that Blunt would be an ideal partner for him in the film which is why he tried his ultimate best to convince her to work in the film.
Dwayne Johnson Requested Emily Blunt to Reconsider Her Choice for The Film
When Bailey’s heartfelt letter couldn’t convince The Girl on the Train star for the film, director, Jaume Collet-Serra flew to New York to personally hand deliver the script to Blunt to explain her importance in the project.
He also brought along a video message from the Jumanji actor to try to charm the actress. It was another of his tactic to convince her in considering for the role.
Johnson recalled,
“I must have shot it about five or six times because I had not communicated with Emily yet.”
He added,
“I had not even met her. And I wanted to let her know via this video just how important she was to this movie and how I only wanted her in this movie. And it was great.”
The actress further added that the video was “sweet” and eventually read the script after meeting the director and listening to the Black Adam star’s message.
The film received mixed reviews from critics that grossed $247 million worldwide. A sequel is currently in development meanwhile the film is available on Disney+.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
