“It’s awful,” the actress says of executing action sequences in a corset.
“It’s so awful,” she proclaims.
The corset acted as like a sort of oven on my organs.
Diego Lopez Calvin/Drama Republic/BBC/Amazon Studios
There was no breathing space."
Blunt also makes her debut as a producer on the project, which hits Prime Video on Nov. 11.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You have done so many different genres and types of stories.
But this is your first Western.
What made you want to play in that space?
EMILY BLUNT:I’ve always really loved the Western.
This offered a cacophony of reasons why I wanted to do it.
It was so beautiful when I read it; it was so piercing.
And yet, it moved like a chase thriller.
I would say Cornelia is not quite what we have seen before from women in this genre.
Was that what appealed to you about her?
I found her really surprising.
She’s definitely not the damsel tied to a tree at all.
She seems to be in a situation where she’s in way over her head.
She is far more capable and resourceful in matters of survival than any of us could have expected.
That’s what I really adored about her.
We discover why as we go along.
I love a character with a secret.
You’re also producing for the first time.
Was that part of the package deal when it came to you?
Or were you just so in love with the story that you decided to take on that extra role?
I adore the development of stuff.
I love post production.
I love all of it.
I just haven’t really asked for the role before, I guess.
This came along as a pilot, and so, I signed on to it as a pilot.
It seemed that I was going to be along for the ride from its most embryonic phases.
This is a project that might feel the closest to me.
It’s all of it.
Honestly, I find it hard to word the whole experience because it’s been a really beautiful one.
Certainly, this is the first time I’ve done this long-form storytelling in the wild.
The rifles and stuff, I was more familiar with that sort of thing.
It was the best.
It was like an outlet for me when everyone was inside.
Not particularly, to be honest.
I read some books on the time period that Hugo recommended.
Also, this show feels different from other Westerns.
It doesn’t feel old fashioned, or of one note or one tone.
It is quite modern.
And so, I approached her in quite a modern way.
She just happened to be in a corset or wear a bonnet for some of it.
Can you elaborate a bit more on the relationship between Cornelia and Eli?
It’s a bit of both.
They came together like a couple of comets rather unexpectedly.
But they do have this deeply tender love story.
And it’s an epic love story between two people.
She’s an English woman.
He’s a Native American.
And they’ve both suffered terrible loss.
They have a lot to learn from each other.
It was vital to us to find our Eli.
He just happens to be Native American.
I feel Native Americans can be constrained to certain identities that are not fair.
It’s not freeing and it’s not expansive.
