Several years ago, before Emily Blunt got pregnant, I was sort of concerned about her diminishing appearance. Blunt always had a great figure – she was athletic and fit without looking sinewy or ‘roidy, but at some point, it seemed like she lost a significant amount of weight and you could really see it on her face. It was worrisome, even though it happens all the time in Hollywood – someone gets praise for looking fit and healthy and then they lose a lot of weight. But then Emily had a healthy pregnancy and I have to say, post-pregnancy, she’s back to looking fit and healthy.
Why bring this up? Because it seems like we weren’t the only people noticing Emily’s thin look. In some Sony Hack documents, Amy Pascal tells a director that she’s “worried” about Emily because she “looked anorexic.”
Emily Blunt is best known for playing an under-nourished fashion magazine assistant in Vogue satire The Devil Wears Prada, chastising Anne Hathaway’s character in one scene: ‘You eat carbs, for heaven’s sake.’ But it appears Hollywood executives are worried life is imitating art for the 32-year-old, Roehampton-born actress.
In an email discussing her possible role as super-villain Scorpion in a Spider-Man spin-off, Sony Pictures chairwoman Amy Pascal wrote she was ‘worried’ about Blunt.
‘I think I saw a picture of her and she looked anorexic,’ Pascal told director Drew Goddard and fellow Sony executives in the missive, one in a series of emails that have just been published by WikiLeaks. Goddard was keen for Blunt to star in his film Sinister Six, however, earlier enthusing to Pascal: ‘F***. Even as I type this . . . Picture Emily Blunt with a Scorpion tail on . . . Oh g-ddamn it, now I might need her for Sinister Six. Or, at least, Sinister Six Two.’
The Pascal email was sent in May last year, just months after Blunt gave birth to her first child, daughter Hazel, with her actor husband John Krasinski. No casting has yet been announced, so it remains to be seen whether Pascal won the day.
Emails also reveal that Emily was considered for two other Sony Pictures films, both about alien invasions, which ultimately ended up going to lesser known actresses. Pascal claimed she ‘loved’ the idea of Emily Blunt for Adam Sandler film Pixels, due out this summer, but the role went to True Detective actress Michelle Monaghan. Blunt was also considered for The 5th Wave, out next year, but was pipped to the part by Maria Bello. Yesterday a spokesman for Blunt declined to comment.
I really can’t decide how inappropriate this is. I always say that it’s okay to simply NOTICE when someone has lost a lot of weight, because that’s human nature. We’re visual animals. We all look at celebrities and think, “Oh, he looks different, what is it? His face is pulled too tight” or “she’s lost a lot of weight since I last saw her.” If Amy Pascal was just chatting with a friend or colleague and said, “I’m sort of worried about Emily Blunt, someone needs to tell her that she’ll get more work if she gains a few pounds back,” I think that would be… normal. That would be something I could see myself doing, honestly. But it feels like Amy Pascal was bad-mouthing Emily to a director who wanted to hire Emily, like “anorexic” was an insult rather than a legitimate concern.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
What I don’t get is why people always rush to use the a-word. Wouldn’t you get your point across if you said “she looks way too skinny”? I think we’re so quick to throw anorexia in the mix. Meanwhile, I think she looks great now. I have a similar body type and I admire how toned she is.
Not to mention, you can be underweight, even dangerously underweight, and not be anorexic. Anorexia is quite a specific disorder, not a catch all for anyone who’s ever taken a diet or exercise regime too far.
Someone said recently, that she couldn’t believe that a woman was anorexic, because she wasn’t that thin. People just don’t know.
Paradoxically, it’s A. Pascal whose eating habits are pretty disordered… there was one email she wrote to dietitian of some sort describing her whole history of drug, alcohol and diet pill abuse starting from age I think 12, ugh. (the hard-core stuff stopped in 1990 when she went to rehab). She also ordered atkins books from amazon. There were also some emails about other people’s diets with consultations with nutritionists etc, and the general idea you’re left with after reading it all is that they’re all afraid of carbs and think restricting them is the way to go (and then they’re shocked they pig out on them I guess…).
In my “psychology as a human science” class, we spent a lot of time discussing the idea that someone “has” a disorder like OCD, or anorexia in this case, not that they “are” OCD or anorexic, etc etc. For one, it discourages the habit of using names of legitimate mental disorders as causal personality descriptors (as in, saying ‘I’m so OCD’ as opposed to ‘I feel really passionate about keeping my house clean’). But more importantly, it emphasizes the fact that someone’s disorder doesn’t define them. By saying “I have OCD” or “She has anorexia” rather than “I am OCD” or “She is anorexic,” it reminds us that we are more than just one part of ourselves. Sorry if this seems off-topic, I was just inspired by your great point about the power of the words we choose to use.
ETA: when I say, “or anorexia in this case,” I’m not implying that Emily has anorexia. Just discussing.
There are so many possible reasons for weight loss, many of them having nothing to do with disordered eating–I’ve talked with cancer survivors about being labeled anorexic, when of course they’ve lost weight because of their illness/treatment. And I say this as an eating disorder professional; I’m glad there’s more awareness now of ED’s as legitimate conditions (when I started my career there was so much more ignorance and denial), but the labeling has become a knee-jerk reaction, and the simple go-to when someone loses a lot of weight.
The writing on this blog is so incredibly juvenile. Your phrasing alone could use a serious upgrade. I feel like I’m reading the ramblings of an uneducated southern soccer mom. I come here for the photos, but my goodness, whenever I actually read your posts and the comments I feel sorry for you and your commenters. What a bunch of losers.
Sooo… maybe find another site to visit rather than this one? Sorry if that seems obvious. Your apparent lack of common sense tells me it might not be. Good day.
You sound like a delightful human being.
Also, if you’re just looking for pictures of celebrities, I suggest Google image search.
Raina, this blog isn’t Dostoevsky. If you find it so juvenile why are you reading it? May I suggest you go bury your nose in something deep by Milan Kundera or Henry Miller to remove the plebeian taint of our ramblings.
Pfft, HEY EVERYONE, Raina is better than all of you. She only comes to look at the pictures, which is the opposite excuse of guys who look at porn for ‘the articles’.
BUT UPSIDE, she feels sorry for everyone because she gots dah big heart. And also, she might be Amy Pascal, or not. We’ll find out during the next Sony leak.
lulz.
*The Z is for Sixer, BTW.
Head over to TMZ then if you don’t like the commenters here.
I’m cracking up over kiddo’s name change.
Did you really have to call us losers? How sad. And let me just tell you, I do not feel insulted, not one bit.
Don’t tell me, its a slow news day on DListed.
The irony is astounding that someone would take the time to write a paragraph saying how “juvenile” the blog and commenters are here, complete with a blanket generalizing insult thrown at “southern soccer moms.” Plus, I’m just a juvenile loser with poor phrasing, but basic 4th grade grammar teaches you that “Southern” when used as a region is a proper noun and thus capitalized. Yeah, yeah, all of us hate grammar Nazis on forums, but when you use label an entire blog, its writers, and its commenters, and even Southern soccer moms as “uneducated,” juvenile losers, then you are not only trolling, but not even doing it well.
Sincerely,
An Educated Southern Soccer Mom
P.S. Your sentence that begins “I come here . . . ” is too wordy and thus your “phrasing” loses some credibility; morever, there should be a comma between “comments” and “I feel” dictating the separation of the dependent clause from the last independent clause.
You don’t have to feel sorry for us, Raina.
Amy Pascal is such a toad. She said I THINK I saw a picture and she looked anorexic. She’s not even sure. Definitely think she was just trying to discourage the casting. I think Emily is lovely.
#toad
#doubletoad
#nodisrespecttotoads
Haha, I love toads, and frogs.
She nixed the idea on that, but thought a Sandler movie would be good casting for her. Didn’t they say they hated Adam Sandler in prior emails?
She called him an a-hole. I think she still worked with him because Sandler has/had a contract with Sony.
I happen to agree with her on that point.
This is the same person who greenlit Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, so I’m not sure what we should really expect from her.
+1
I think I saw a picture of Paul Blart and his Segway looked crapy.
Oh please, Paul Blart : Mall Cop 2 is a magnificent masterpiece of cinematic art. It will be discussed with future generations on TCM, and hang in the same hallowed halls as Citizen Kane.
ETA: Bramhall’s hair broke the internet.
It was good while it lasted.
What we could see of it. Since it mentioned Stevie Ray Vaughn, too, that Tick Tock song comes to mind. Time’s tickin’ away.
I think Kylie’s all-natural-from-birth lips eclipsed the Bramhall post.
My condolences kiddo.
Enough said!
I didn’t mind Mall Cop as I took my son but we saw the 2nd and he turned to me and said I think they don’t need to make more it’s not that funny. There was noooo reason after the first. Tbh there are no reasons for a lot of the remakes.
Amy Pascal having a “legitimate concern” vs tossing out insults? Ha, not a chance.
I’m not sure I agree it was inappropriate for Pascal to comment on Blunt’s appearance. First of all, all three of the roles mentioned above are superhero/action movies, and if Blunt was looking too fragile then that would inevitably pose casting issues. Secondly, if an actress is looking anoxeric on the red carpet, that will generate bad publicity – both for the film and for the studios at large. Isn’t there demand for Hollywood to be discouraging extreme dieting? However, having said all that, Blunt always looks healthy to me – and looked in fine (i.e. non-skeletal) shape in the Edge of Tomorrow.
Those were my thoughts too. This is Hollywood, it’s always been superficial. Casting directors have to inevitably comment on an actress’ appearance.
And I also give these guys a pass for the way they express themselves in private emails. Idk about you, but with my friends, we use words we normally wouldn’t use around other people and laugh at things that would get us major side-eyes from strangers. My friends get me, so I just don’t think about how I’m wording myself. I think Amy would’ve used a more polite word if she knew Emily (and the rest of the world) would read her comments.
Aw, c’mon we’ve all said shit about people we didn’t expect them to hear. I think it’s a little soon to be writing off Amy Pascal as a terrible person
I disagree. Her racist jokes about Obama, her petty, catty little emails about people behind their backs while she was being all kissy to their face…I think she’s extremely unprofessional and pretty awful.
Maybe, I don’t know all she wrote but I do know I have done a lot of bitching and complaining about coworkers “behind their backs” and plastered a professional attitude on myself in the workplace. I’m not excusing her, I don’t know what she did, I’m just saying I am guilty of this “crime” in certain circumstances and I know many other people are as well. And we’re not all horrible people, we’re just people forced to “play nice” with people we don’t like.
I wrote the same above. I don’t care too much about how I’m wording myself around friends because I know they get me. Everyone behaves differently in private than they do in public.
i TOTALLY AGREE. People think they are just way better and pristine and perfect. People, really. You think you never say anything bad about or to anyone, c’mon. Get real.
Of course we all say bad things about other people sometimes, but I don’t pretend to be friends with someone and say bad things about them behind their back. Do you? Because she did. I think that’s rotten. If I don’t like someone, I’m not rude to them, but I don’t pretend I’m their friend. And if I do like someone, I don’t talk about them behind their back, for good reason. Those things have a way of getting back to people and hurting them whether they’re in writing or not.
To me, the issue is that these are business communications. Any email you send using company email is a business communication, discoverable in the event of lawsuits etc.
Yes, we all have our catty moments, but to have those moments recorded on your employer’s servers is unprofessional and unacceptable.
She may, or may not, be a terrible person, but she certainly was stupid and unprofessional for sending these emails. I have no problem judging her for her lack of judgment.
The only thing I have learned from this whole mess is that everyone gossips about everyone.
More importantly don’t ever write down what you think because one way or another it will come out.
This Amy is giving women such a bad reputation and has single handedly sent us back 30 years in the movie industry.
In the emails, Amy strikes me as very . .. . girlish. Not to be derogatory about that word – childish, might be a better choice. She seems to want everyone to like her. It reveals a very strange behind the scenes dynamic. I’m actually really surprised that the person who wrote these emails holds the role she does.
I don’t feel as though Amy was badmouthing Emily with this phrasing. I can see myself saying a similar thing about someone without any ill-will. It’s just a (perhaps lazy, insensitive & offensive) way of saying that weight loss has gone too far.
She isn’t expressing concern about Blunt, if that’s what you’re picking up on. But this is a private, informal business conversation between people discussing business concerns, it’s not a personal conversation.
I’m actually kind of glad to hear a exec say that too thin is unappealing. Lord knows, actresses are getting more destructive messages elsewhere.
I had the exact same reaction as you. It’s just hyperbole, we all use it daily in conversations we don’t intend for public consumption. “That meeting was torture,” “I’m starving,” “He’s such a monster,” etc…
Also let’s not kid ourselves, Hollywood is a meat market and appearance is primordial. About 1000 convos like this one must go down there every day, and like you, I found it refreshing to for once hear someone say “she looks too thin.”
I agree. Emily Blunt might have been too thin for the roles they were discussing.
I bet you they say “She’s too fat for that role,” a thousand times more than “she’s too thin”!!!
FYI using “anorexic” as a word to describe someones appearance is very wrong and disrespectful. Anorexia is MENTAL ILLNESS not a word to describe someones weight.
you’re right, of course. It’s a concerning disease and someone with compassion for the experience of an individual with anorexia wouldn’t throw the term around so loosely.
I can’t only say that, in informal conversations, people – myself included – tend to get lazy. I’ve made this mistake myself without intending disrespect, though I hear you when you say it comes across that way.
I suffered from anorexia and nearly died, I get upset when people throw around words like OCD Bipolar and anorexia like their a joke.No one jokes about cancer that way. Its stigma and culture of mental illness making ppl uncomfortable there for they joke about it
And yet she gave Angelina Jolie the lead role in the action movie Salt. I heard she even travelled to France to convince her.
Angelina is an A lister and currently the queen of Hollywood while Emily is more of a supporting actress who cannot open a movie by her name only.
That should explain everything..
All I’m saying is Angelina was thinner than Emily when Amy flew thousands of miles to offer her Salt. Yes Angelina is a bigger star than Emily who always plays supporting roles so what was Amy’s problem?
If people didn’t care about Angelina’s weight in a lead role, I don’t think they would have cared about Emily’s in a supporting role.
She explained it to you ‘come on,’ – Angelina Jolie is an A-lister and proven box office name that opens movies, especially with films like this one (action). Blunt is not. You can call it, people wanting to see Jolie kick azz in spite of her frame, just because she’s a charismatic proven movie star or not…but either way, this is a false equivalency. In Blunts case her thin frame is essentially one more mark against her – if she was Angelina Jolie, they wouldn’t care. What don’t you get?
Also, there’s a big difference between someone who’s always been gangly and slender (jolie) and someone who appears to have just dropped a lot of weight out of the blue like Blunt which might indicate a problem.
To be fair, I can’t think on one recent movie that Angelina opened and had succeed using her name only. Hmmmmm….can’t think of one. She is definitely the subject of the most gossip in Hollywood, but Queen of Hollywood??? Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock, Helen Bonham Carter, and about a dozen other women have brought in more box office that she has. Even Scarlett Johannson has brought in more box office than she has. So, no, she is no Queen.
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/people/?view=Actor&sort=sumgross
Off the point, I know, but I get annoyed at made up stuff that tries to show how incredibly popular AJ is, when she really is not. What she is, though, is dangerously skinny.
and of course Angie is mentioned..
I think Angie was mentioned because Amy got her for Salt. Angie is also slim, but played an action role. So it is a reasonable question to ask why Amy would have a problem with Emily being slim for a similar role. She never mentioned her fame level, just her frame.
Another slim actress playing a action part is seen in divergent. But that is not a Sony pic nor was Amy involved.
If we’re purely talking about an actress having a very thin physical build while being considered for a very high action role, I think you have a point. If they’re OK with one, I don’t know why it would be used an excuse for another.
It’s also come up about the actress playing Wonder Woman, and seems to be kind of a no-win situation for women. There’s such pressure to be thin or you won’t get hired, and then if you are thin you’re “too skinny” for action roles.
For the record I don’t think I’ve ever seen Emily Blunt look unhealthily skinny aside from her Devil Wears Prada role, and anyone who saw her in that Tom Cruise movie should know she is quite capable of handling herself in that type of role.
In Salt her hanging off that building by her fingertips I said to my hubby no way she has the upper body strength to do that.
i think i read somewhere that Amy Pascal is a toad.
Why do I get the feeling Amy Pascal was a mean girl in High School.
Hollywood is exactly like 11th grade. Exactly.
She sounds like everyone on this site, why are you criticizing her?
Can I ask you a serious question? Why do you come here? You never have anything positive to say, and you’re always making sweeping generalizations about what horrible people the other posters are. Of course anyone has the right to post here, but I don’t understand why you bother. I felt bad for you yesterday when you had your outburst about someone responding negatively towards you, but can’t you see why they do?
Lack of self-awareness can only be criticized in famous people and only in those one doesn’t like. It’s a rule universally acknowledged:)
True. At least I KNOW why some people on here think I’m an a$$hole. Lol
Sweeping generalization Mark!
By majority we do not insult someone’s physical appearance by claiming they appear to have a serious disorder/illness. There are some threads that thrive with that language but by majority that’s not so.
And a surprising number of us posters have struggled with our own disordered eating or eating disorder. And still do.
I’m a regular poster here. Do you see me calling anyone a cow or anorexic? You will find my posts defending a subjects appearance. So, rethink your wording. “everyone on this site” is absolutely incorrect and can demonstrate a lack of understanding the nature of your words before speaking/typing.
Mark, you’re also on this site.
Some of us are criticizing her because we are free to do so, is that a problem for you?
Kind of on the fence on this one. I read that more as two decision makers talking casting and whether she looked right for the part. At some point in these talks that are not intended to be disseminated to the public people need to say what they mean, and Pascal is obviously the blunt type.
These emails are a good read. What I find most disturbing is that nobody thinks twice before sending these opinions/criticisms in an email. I wouldn’t say negative things about friends or family in an email because I imagine it would be too easy for my snarky remarks to be forwarded and come back to haunt me. And yet, these people are gossiping and criticizing famous people in work related emails. That seems incredibly stupid to me.
I agree, people are too quick to put things on social media too. Not everything should be shared with everyone.
It only speaks of Amy Pascal’s lack of intellect to call someone anorexic just like that. Anorexia is a very serious illness. So if she meant “too skinny”, she should have just said it this way. However, neither is Blunt overly skinny, nor do I believe it was honest concern on Pascal’s part. She just didn’t want Blunt to get the part, or even install a rumor about her- which then will be repeated long enough, so everybody buys it as fact in the end. Maybe she just didn’t like Blunt. Amy Pascal, the witch.
Are either of these photos supposed to show someone looking too skinny? I don’t see it.
I’m in recovery from my own ed. I try to focus on health and not my appearance.
My elderly neighbor saw me come back from a half marathon and told me to eat a sandwich and that I looked anorexic. She meant no harm and was only concerned, but it was extremely hurtful! The impact of these terms can vary so greatly they just shouldn’t be used so casually.
I didn’t know that, FLORC. I’m sorry to hear it. I imagine that is such a difficult struggle. I hope you have continued success in your recovery, and I admire your honesty about it. I know your neighbor didn’t mean any harm but that was an obnoxious thing to say, or maybe insensitive is a better word. Even if you didn’t have your own issues with an ED, I just think it’s best not to comment on someone’s weight, period.
GNAT
I appreciate that and Thanks 😀
It was a struggle and it got really bad for a while. Now, I deeply regret putting the ones I love and love me through that. And my husband played a large role in helping me and still does.
It’s a balancing act. Give my body what it craves and not letting myself skip meals. For me a trigger was always an empty stomach. Once I had it to put food in it was uncomfortable. So, if i’m training for a race and I get an empty stomach it’s less of a good feeling and more an inconvenience 🙂
And my neighbor is 85 and says the most racist things without intending to sound that way! I think she’s truly one of those people that remove the filter past a certain age just because they can get away with it more.
In Pascal’s defense, and yes, I just choked on that, she didn’t say it to this person’s face. On the other hand, she takes a lot of glee, at least it seems, in talking shit and then being kissy-face to the same person. At least that’s what it looked like in the case with AJ.
If you’re going to be an asshole, then be a proud asshole.
Kiddo
I understand that. And in a way that’s no better. She and others never intended their terrible mean-girling (for lack of a better term) to get out. And I can see how some find it easier to say these things only behind backs.
And haha! I’m a proud a_____e in that way. If I can’t say it to your face I won’t say it behind your back. If I say it behind your back and you hear about it I will admit I said it.
I wonder how AJ really felt about what was said.
There was a saying… Roughly it states 2 friends will always bad mouth the 3rd that is away.
Yes, Kiddo, that is variation of my motto, “if you’re going to be a bitch, be a good one.”
Maybe I haven’t paid enough attention to Blunt but I don’t recall her looking unhealthy.
I wonder is she had to get super skinny for The Devil Wears Prada? Her character was supposed to barely ever eat anything. Although I didn’t think she looked unhealthy in that, either.
Amy Pascal showed her true colors for me when she met with Al Sharpton after certain comments she made got out. Such a fake person.
Ah, but these aren’t the best ‘weight’ emails..there’s a whole series where Clooney is getting Pascal an appt to see this doc who asks about your lunar cycles (?) and prescribes fruit juice and eggs only
AND they are both hungry. I don’t know why, but it makes me happy that men starve themselves sometimes, too.
Maneroxia is just as sad as anorexia, no one should ever feel the need to starve themselves.
I think she had professional dance training all her life so I think it’s more a natural discipline thing for her than an actual eating disorder. Having said that, I haven’t noticed her looking tragically thin like Kate Bosworth does. She was really strong and fit in that film with Tom Cruise. Unless you google her very thin pics you wouldn’t really notice it.
I saw emily blunt at whole foods last summer and she really did look anorexic. She is/was shockingly tiny. Just sayin
News flash – Hollywood is all about looks. It is not a surprise that a Hollywood executive is commenting on how an actress looks, which in this case, was not good and probably not right for an action part that required her to be strong and fit. It’s not the end of the world and really doesn’t require too much analysis and hand-wringing.