Put yourself in Emily Blunt’s shoes, if only for one moment. You currently are riding high on the success of Rob Marshall’s Into the Woods, a big-screen movie musical that opened on Christmas Day and is earning decent reviews. As the Baker’s Wife, you have proven yourself fully capable of carrying a musical production, even earning a Golden Globe nomination for your turn as the singing, cursed woods-explorer. You have pull at Disney, and a hit musical at the top of your resume. Do you put a phone call in to the studio and ask them for a part in the inevitable Frozen 2?
This was a fun and playful question I lobbed over to Emily Blunt during our recent interview on behalf of Into the Woods. Though she is part of a sprawling ensemble that includes large-voiced cast members like Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine and Meryl Streep, the wickedly talented Blunt proves herself more than capable of holding down a solo and bolstering a melody in tracks such as Moments in the Woods or the duet It Takes Two. So impressed by her vocal prowess was I that I thought I’d ask if she’d even consider a part in Disney’s other massive musical endeavor. And though Frozen 2 is just a plan on paper in a Disney boardroom at the moment, Blunt did laugh and tell me:
No, no! That [series] is for my friend Kristen Bell, who just CRUSHED it, and I am so happy for her. So no. I don’t know. There’s just never going to be another Elsa and an Anna. There’s just can’t."
When I counter that she could possibly play a princess in a neighboring kingdom, through the power of animation, Blunt does begin to give it more thought, saying:
Wouldn’t that be great? Who knows? She could be obsessed with flowers, or something…"
We have this odd habit of attaching Emily Blunt to roles in future pictures, whether she’s had any interest in them or not. Multiple film sites have linked her name to the Marvel franchise of Captain Marvel, probably because her name has been in the mix for superhero roles before. Also, she DESTROYED in the action film Edge of Tomorrow opposite Tom Cruise, proving to us once again that no matter the genre, Emily Blunt comes to play.
Frozen 2, at the moment, isn’t a guarantee – even though it feels like a no-brainer to us. The first movie made gobs of cash for Disney, and they have hinted at the desire to continue the story of Anna and Elsa, albeit organically. After hearing Emily Blunt sing in Into The Woods, hiring her for a part in Frozen 2 feels like a no-brainer, as well. For the moment, it’s more of a musical pipe dream.
