Entertainment
Emily Blunt admits corset felt like an ‘oven to her organs’ while filming BBC western drama The English-Sabrina Barr-Entertainment – Metro
Wearing corsets will ‘always be women’s cross to bear’ in period pieces, she said.
Wearing corsets will ‘always be women’s cross to bear’ in period pieces, she said (Picture: Diego Lopez Calvin/BBC/PA)
Emily Blunt has opened up on just how constricting it was to film her new BBC Two drama The English in a tight-fitting corset, confessing that it felt as though her organs were in an ‘oven’.
Throughout her expansive and varied career, the three-time Bafta-nominated actress has appeared in several period productions, from playing the monarch in The Young Victoria to becoming one of Disney’s most cherished characters in Mary Poppins Returns.
While one might think the 39-year-old would be used to wearing corsets for her costumes at this point, it appears donning the garment doesn’t become any easier, particularly when shooting in high temperatures to boot.
Emily recently spoke to Metro.co.uk and other press about her upcoming show The English, a western written by Hugo Blick and also starring Twilight actor Chaske Spencer.
The story follows Cornelia Locke (Emily), an English woman seeking revenge in the American West for the death of her son, who crosses paths with an ex-cavalry scout called Eli Whipp (Chaske), a member of the Pawnee Nation by birth.
Emily admitted that ‘the corset will always be a challenge’, saying that when you’re a woman appearing in a period piece, ‘it will always be your cross to bear’.
Emily’s character Cornelia is desperately seeking revenge (Picture: Diego Lopez Calvin/BBC/PA)
‘It’s just how it goes,’ she said.
‘The corset would sometimes act as like an oven to my organs because literally no air gets in them. It doesn’t matter how many fans they put on you, if you’re being cooked from the inside out, there’s only so much you can do.’
However, Emily added that the corset ‘looks great’, quipping: ‘And as everyone kept telling me, what a great silhouette.’
Filming for The English began in May 2021 in Spain – and the heat the actors had to endure feels palpable through the screen.
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Chaske, who portrayed Sam Uley in The Twilight Saga film series, stressed the physically-demanding aspects of the production, having worn a ‘wool military jacket and leather chaps’ in the heat.
‘But it adds to the character, it adds to the project. That’s the film,’ the 47-year-old stated.
‘From the heat you can see it on our faces. There were several times when the dust played a big part in a monologue where it blew into your face. But it all adds into it at the end.’
Cornelia and Eli form a bond in the western drama (Picture: Diego Lopez Calvin/BBC/PA)
After hearing Chaske speak about the ‘workout’ that they went through acclimatising to riding the horses in the six-part series, Emily also emphasised how ‘oppressive’ the heat was.
‘It was definitely a challenge,’ the A Quiet Place actress said.
‘But I do think – I agree with Chaske – you can see it on the screen, you can literally see the light shimmering in every shot.
‘We kind of needed that. You needed to feel that glow of this world and there’s certain times of day that we shot in Spain where all the horses would kick up the dust and it just added this otherworldly lens on the whole thing. It was really extraordinary.’
The English is due to premiere on Thursday November 10 at 9pm on BBC Two, with all episodes also made available immediately on BBC iPlayer.
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