Emily Blunt details Judi Dench ending her singing career

Emily Blunt has given details of her many celebrity pals – including Judi Dench, Cillian Murphy, The Rock and Millicent Simmonds. 

Appearing on Saturday night’s The Jonathan Ross show, the actress, 38, who is blazing the promo trail for her new movie A Quiet Place II, was detailing her many superstar encounters – including her early theatrical beginnings with Dame Judi. 

Her string of hilarious anecdotes contained Cillian, due to the fact A Quiet Place II is written and directed by her husband John Krasinski and after binge watching Peaky Blinders they both set their sights on hiring the actor. 

Hilarious: Emily Blunt has given details of her many celebrity pals – including Judi Dench, Cillian Murphy, The Rock and Millicent Simmonds

Emily delightedly revealed that she worked on her play with Dame Judi when she was just 18 and explained the life-changing moments. 

She said: ‘She said, ‘Where is she?’ As in, ‘Can I come and say hello?’ I couldn’t even stand up. I was so in awe. She was really cool and she taught me so much about not taking anything too seriously and don’t sweat the small stuff…

‘It can be really fun [the industry] if you don’t sweat things too much.’

When asked what advice she received, she said: ‘At the time I was sort of feeling like I was being pressured into having a singing career…

Her star: Appearing on Saturday night's The Jonathan Ross show, the actress, 38, who is blazing the promo trail for her new movie A Quiet Place II, was detailing her many superstar encounters - including her early theatrical beginnings with Dame Judi (pictured)

Her star: Appearing on Saturday night’s The Jonathan Ross show, the actress, 38, who is blazing the promo trail for her new movie A Quiet Place II, was detailing her many superstar encounters – including her early theatrical beginnings with Dame Judi (pictured) 

Working: Emily pictured in A Quiet Place

Working: Emily pictured in A Quiet Place

‘I knew it was wrong for me and I really didn’t feel comfortable doing it. I was about to sign this record deal, I was crying – I hate letting people down – I was so stressed I was like, ‘Judi this is happening… ‘…

‘She said, ‘Oh no darling, you can’t do both.’ And it was done. I called them and said, ‘Judi says I’m out’.’

She added: ‘John [husband John Krasinski] didn’t know I could sing until I did Into the Woods. I don’t sing in front of anyone. I think it’s really exposing and frightening.;

On signing Cillian for A Quiet Place Part II, Emily said John had to make the move after seeing Peaky Blinders: ‘Like mainlining it [Peaky Blinders] into my veins. John had written the second script and he said, ‘That’s it, it’s him’…

Has to be done! On signing Cillian for A Quiet Place Part II, Emily said John had to make the move after seeing Peaky Blinders: 'Like mainlining it [Peaky Blinders] into my veins. John had written the second script and he said, 'That's it, it's him'

Has to be done! On signing Cillian for A Quiet Place Part II, Emily said John had to make the move after seeing Peaky Blinders: ‘Like mainlining it [Peaky Blinders] into my veins. John had written the second script and he said, ‘That’s it, it’s him’

‘He has these very famous iconic blue eyes and his cheekbones… he has websites dedicated to his eyes and cheekbones, it’s crazy!’

She went on: ‘He’s so arresting to be in a scene with, he’s absolutely brilliant. He’s so polite and shy, the antithesis of his character [in Peaky Blinders].’

Emily then regaled hilarious stories of going out with the actor, saying: ‘Asked about going out with him to socialise she says: ‘We did a couple of times, dragged him out. He quite likes to just go home, take a bath and go to bed…

‘When he goes out, I think, when he has his Peaky Blinders haircut he hates it [as he is so easily recognised]. [We went out for dinner and] as we were leaving, I could see this bachelorette party pull in and they were dressed as Peaky Blinders [characters]…

Hard work: She also detailed filming with The Rock for delayed Disney release Jungle Cruise, saying: 'We want to do a big release. It'll come out end of July. He's the best, I love him. He has his gym called the Iron Paradise'

Hard work: She also detailed filming with The Rock for delayed Disney release Jungle Cruise, saying: ‘We want to do a big release. It’ll come out end of July. He’s the best, I love him. He has his gym called the Iron Paradise’

‘We put his hood up and smuggled him… it was ridiculous. I was like, ‘We need to leave, now…’

A Quiet Place follows a family that is forced to navigate and survive in a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by blind monsters with an acute sense of hearing, meaning they must use sign language to communicate. 

Emily says of signing in A Quiet Place: ‘The sign language was challenging, quite hard… it took me forever.’

She says of co-star Millicent Simmonds, a deaf actress, ‘Millie is amazing. She taught me some fun words, like awesome and bull****.’

An honour: She says of co-star Millicent Simmonds, a deaf actress, 'Millie is amazing. She taught me some fun words, like awesome and bull****'

An honour: She says of co-star Millicent Simmonds, a deaf actress, ‘Millie is amazing. She taught me some fun words, like awesome and bull****’

She also detailed filming with The Rock for delayed Disney release Jungle Cruise, saying: ‘We want to do a big release. It’ll come out end of July. He’s the best, I love him. He has his gym called the Iron Paradise…

‘When he rents a house, he takes over, he gets a house with a tennis court, he tents it and it’s massive, it’s like a church. I didn’t realise no-one had been allowed, it’s his inner sanctum, I was casually like, ‘Do you mind if I use the gym sometime?’…  

‘It was amazing. I wouldn’t go in there when he was in there. He said to me afterwards, ‘I always know when you’ve been in, you have your baby weights left around.’ 

The Jonathan Ross Show airs on Saturday 17 April at 9:35pm on ITV.    

Hard work: 'It was amazing. I wouldn't go in there when he was in there. He said to me afterwards, 'I always know when you've been in, you have your baby weights left around'

Hard work: ‘It was amazing. I wouldn’t go in there when he was in there. He said to me afterwards, ‘I always know when you’ve been in, you have your baby weights left around’