Visionary auteur Greta Gerwig is undeniably an inspiration to millions. Her latest directorial film, Barbie, broke all box office records by being the highest-grossing film of last year. While Gerwig has moved on from the success of Barbie and has indulged in her forthcoming projects, the filmmaker has also been inspiring some fictional characters now. In a recent interview, Oppenheimer actress Emily Blunt shared that her character in an upcoming film is loosely inspired by Greta Gerwig.
Greta Gerwig inspired Emily Blunt’s character in her upcoming film
After giving a phenomenal performance in the Oscar-winning film Oppenheimer, actress Emily Blunt is all set to impact the audience with her performance in the upcoming film The Fall Guy. Directed by David Leitch and penned by Drew Pearce, the film stars Blunt alongside Ryan Gosling, with Winston Duke, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hannah Waddingham, and Stephanie Hsu in supporting roles.
The film follows the story of a battered action choreographer, Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling), who finds himself working on a film set with Tom Ryder, a famous actor for whom he had doubled long ago. When Ryder goes missing, things take a messier turn as the director of the film Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt) is in danger of shutting down the film. That’s when Colt comes to her aid, who is also her ex-boyfriend.
During a recent interview with Total Film, Blunt shared that her character is loosely inspired by Gerwig. She said, “With the warmth and the charm, I guess there’s a little Greta in there. She was a mix of a few other people I’d met and pulled from.”
Kelly McCormick, who is the co-producer of the film, also explained how the character of Jody went through various changes. She shared that initially, Jody’s role was of a make-up artist, but to increase the weight of the film, she was made the director. McCormick said, “Emily’s role was a make-up artist when we sold it, and we converted it to first-time directing right before we gave her a very rough draft. It made it feel like [the character] had more pressure on her.”
Blunt shared that the development of her character was possible with the help of the entire team. She said that they worked as a team to finalize her character. Blunt said, “We all kind of built her together because I think, maybe in the original script, she was quite severe, and that sort of tough director. But I think, for me, it’s always more interesting to play someone who’s in a situation where they’re way over their head.”
Talking about the inspiring Gerwig, with the success of Barbie, she became the highest-grossing female director of all time last year. The film, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, grossed more than $1.4 billion at the box office and also made history as the first live-action movie directed by a woman solo to join the global billion-dollar club.
Following the success of Barbie, now the filmmaker is all set to create her next masterpiece. Gerwig is set to start the production of the acclaimed fantasy movie The Chronicles of Narnia.
Emily Blunt’s starring film The Fall Guy is scheduled to hit theaters on May 3.
