In an age of prestige television, front lining a buzzy limited or event series on a streaming service has taken the place of starring in a box office smash hit. With cinemas dominated by franchises and superhero movies, the “mid-budget” star vehicles that would have topped the box office decades ago are now turned into miniseries that emphasize a famous face. Many movie stars who are relegated to franchise roles now turn to streaming shows as the chance to take a creative departure; we’ve seen this with icons like Paul Rudd, Julia Roberts, Robin Wright, Mahershala Ali, and Chris Pratt among others lead buzzy limited series. Emily Blunt is the latest star to join this list thanks to her performance in Prime’s Video’s six-part western epic The English.

While The English isn’t based on a specific true story, it’s clearly influenced by the real struggles that settlers and Pawnee scouts faced during the Old West. Created by showrunner Hugo Blick, The English tells the story of the English aristocrat Lady Cornelia Locke (Blunt) during her travel to the Old West in the 1890s to seek revenge for the death of her son. The English strikes an interesting tone; similar to classic western epics like Once Upon A Time In The West or The Searchers, it's a sprawling adventure series that intertwines a heartbreaking tragedy through flashbacks. Like those films, there’s a strong sense of social commentary; you don't usually get to see revisionist westerns that star a grieving mother and a Pawnee soldier.

To say that Blunt is sensational in the series would be an understatement. The English is unflinchingly classical in its approach, and it would not be nearly as effective if it did not have a compelling performer to add emotional depth. The viewer has to watch The English with a pit in their stomach; we know that this story is going to end in loss and bloodshed, and the series preys upon the impending doom by giving Cornelia the chance to mourn. While Blunt makes the plight of a grieving parent absolutely heart-wrenching, she still kicks butt in the frequent action sequences. Frankly, we shouldn’t be surprised, considering that she’s one of the most versatile action stars working today.

Emily Blunt Has Crafted an Eclectic Career of Diverse Roles

Emily Blunt and Tom Cruise going into the first battle in Edge of Tomorrow

It’s somewhat ironic that Blunt nearly played Black Widow in Iron Man 2 and that she’s constantly rumored to be joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Sue Storm alongside her husband, John Krasinski as Reed Richards. The fact that Blunt has not signed up for contractual appearances in multiple installments in a franchise has allowed her to pursue more interesting projects with the industry’s most talented filmmakers. Her work is proof that action cinema has the potential to be morally, ethically, and emotionally nuanced.

Blunt proved in Looper that she wasn’t just going to do romantic comedies and period pieces for the rest of her career. Similar to The English, her character is saddled with the responsibility of protecting a child, except this time her son could potentially be a supervillain. Blunt was able to show how Sara copes with this dilemma as she helps the younger Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) elude his older self (Bruce Willis). Thanks to Rian Johnson’s nuanced writing, Sara turns from a hapless target to a full-on hero, becoming the film’s version of Ellen Ripley or Sarah Connor.

While Edge of Tomorrow was certainly a more traditional action vehicle, it showed that Blunt could outmatch the biggest movie star in the world: Tom Cruise. Cruise subverts expectations for his character by portraying Major William Cage as a coward and deserter who has to learn heroism from the seasoned veteran Sergeant Rita Vrataski. While Edge of Tomorrow is mostly fun, Blunt is able to show Rita’s post-traumatic stress disorder and heartbreak as she serves a war effort that may be bound to fail. She’s able to trade blows with Cruise, and matches his sense of humor during their exciting sparring sequences.

Sicario was an interesting example of where Blunt’s charisma as an action star is weaponized to explore an ethical dilemma; Kate Macer has to reckon with the idea that her country is willfully teaming up with vigilantes and terrorists in order to track down cartel criminals. She’s used to playing by the rules, and she’s constantly kept in the dark as to what is going on. Denis Villeneuve shows the film from her point-of-view, as the audience learns about Alejandro’s (Benicio del Toro) plot at the same time Kate does.

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Blunt Has the Talent to Power a Franchise

A Quiet Place Part II

Blunt dodged the role of Black Widow, but she also was absent from Sicario’s 2018 sequel, Day of the Soldado. Her absence is clearly felt; among the chief criticisms that the film received is that there was not an empathetic character like Kate that the audience could relate to as a moral center. She ended up signing up for a different franchise when A Quiet Place became a surprise hit. Whether A Quiet Place is a thriller, mystery, science fiction, or action film (or all four) is up for debate, but it’s clearly a smash sensation that stands as one of the only original franchises to take off in recent years.

Once again, Blunt gives the type of performance that you would almost never see from another action star; what other blockbuster hit would include an extended sequence where the lead character gives birth? Blunt characterized motherhood in a way that pleased both audiences and critics. Her performance earned her a Screen Actors Guild award for Best Supporting Actress, which was sadly overlooked by the Oscars. However, A Quiet Place: Part II gave her an equally juicy role that proved that she could stand alone without Krasinski behind her.

Part of every great action star’s career is not landing every project. Huntsman’s Winter’s War is an absolute disaster, but Blunt’s eccentric performance as the wicked Queen Freya is easily the most memorable part of the very strange sequel. Similarly, Jungle Cruise was about as generic as you can get, but if it truly was Disney’s attempt to make a new Pirates of the Caribbean, Blunt gave a fun performance worthy of Keira Knightley.

The English Is a Culmination of Emily Blunt's Roles

the english chaske spencer with emily blunt
Image via Prime Video

The English is in many ways the culmination of Blunt’s history of defiance within the action drama. There’s an interesting parallel between Cornelia and her ally, the Pawnee soldier Sgt. Eli Whipp (Chaske Spencer). While they both should seemingly have status because of their services, they are denied fundamental rights due to the constrictions of the era. The English doesn’t shy away from showing scenes of physical abuse and sexism, which makes it even more empowering when Cornelia gets her revenge.

It’s also interesting that the bond she forms with Whipp isn’t necessarily a romantic one. Blunt and Spencer are able to allude to the power of their connection by suggesting that their shared sense of loss binds them together. They’ve both lost their families, so perhaps they are the only ones that can relate to each other’s grievances. The touching final scene shows Cornelia dealing with the pain that she will never be able to heal from.

The English isn’t a perfect series, but it’s another example of why Blunt’s versatility can elevate any sort of material. If you love westerns, it’s an engaging revisionist slant that doesn’t succumb to obvious homages to familiar classics. There are a lot of great actors and a lot of great movie stars, but Blunt is the rare performer who falls into both categories.