Emily Blunt opens up about decision to take year-long acting hiatus: ‘I just felt that in my bones’

Actor’s revelation comes days before the release of her latest movie ‘Oppenheimer’

Emily Blunt says she has made the “important” decision to take an acting hiatus in 2023 to spend more time with her children.

The Quiet Place star, 40, who shares two daughters with her husband, the actor John Krasinski, opened up about her decision on a recent episode of iHeart’s Table for Two with Bruce Bozzi podcast.

“This year, I’m not working. I worked quite a bit last year and my oldest baby is nine, so we’re in the last year of single digits,” Blunt explained. “And I just feel [like] there are cornerstones to their day that are so important when they’re little.”

She continued: “And it’s, ‘Will you wake me up? Will you take me to school? Will you pick me up? Will you put me to bed?’ And I just need to be there for all of them for a good stretch. And I just felt that in my bones.”

Blunt’s revelation comes just days before the release of her latest movie, Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated biographical war drama Oppenheimer.

The British actor portrays Kitty Oppenheimer, the wife of J Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy). Premiering in cinemas on 21 July, the film explores the invention of the nuclear bomb.

Following the movie’s world premiere in Paris on Tuesday (11 July), it has received rapturous praise, with critics hailing it as a “spectacular achievement”.

Florence Pugh and Cillian Murphy in ‘Oppenheimer' (Universal Pictures)

Oppenheimer debuts the same day as Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, with eager fans already planning on seeing them back-to-back. The viral trend, dubbed Barbenheimer, has become so popular that even Murphy, Margot Robbie and Tom Cruise have publicly supported it.

Irish actor Murphy was the latest to weigh in on the friendly box office rivalry between the two films, saying: “I’ll be going to see Barbie, 100 per cent. I can’t wait to see it.

“I think it’s just great for the industry and for audiences, that we have two amazing films by amazing filmmakers coming out on the same day. You can spend the whole day in the cinema – what’s better than that?”

As well as Blunt and Murphy, Oppenheimer also features an all-star supporting cast that includes Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr and Florence Pugh.