Blunt orders wine, explaining it will "help me down the red carpet." It is one of the few experiences in her life that gave her insight into Queen Victoria, whom she plays as a teenager in the years immediately before and after her coronation in 1837."You can't really let your true feelings show, which is that you are a bit nervous and you feel out of your depth. So there is an element of playing a part with one of these events," Blunt says of the red carpet hoopla.
She has learned to "treat it with a pinch of salt. It is frivolous and silly and you should just enjoy yourself. It is not to be fearful of."
"Young Victoria" is a step up the Hollywood ladder for the 26-year-old British actress, who made indelible impressions as a wealthy teen toying with lesbianism in "My Summer of Love" and as Meryl Streep's abrasive, put-upon assistant in "The Devil Wears Prada."
"I was much more nervous about playing Victoria than any other role, simply because I was in the movie more. I carry it, and I was wondering if my shoulders were broad enough," she said.
A story on the Internet has Blunt getting her hands on the "Victoria" script before anyone and badgering the producers for the title part. "I don't know where they got that from," she said of the rumor. "I come off being more pushy than I was. I wouldn't say I barraged my way. We went through the normal conservative way of conducting a meeting. I just said I loved the role so much and I would love for you to give me a go."
The movie appealed to her because it presents Queen Victoria in a different light. The common perception of her is as a widow mourning for the loss of her husband, Prince Albert, for 40 years.
"She is sour-faced and always with a hankie in her hand," said Blunt.
Researching the part, she was "taken aback" by the young Victoria's surprising vitality. She had an exuberance and a love for music, dance and theater. In contrast to her repressive family, theater was a passionate art form that allowed her to experience love vicariously.
"She was always a dreamer, and she dreamt she would meet somebody like Albert," Blunt said. "She had a romanticized idea of what love was, so I think that is why she never wanted to settle for any old suitor they paraded in front of her."
Blunt, who started acting onstage at age 17, said she could identify with what it was like to be a teenager in a job that was over her head and what it was like to fall in love for the first time. For Victoria, her first love would be her one and only.
"When Albert died, Victoria had to be carried out of the room where his body was," said Blunt, who brushed up on her history. "She kept saying, 'Now who will call me Victoria? I have no one to call me Victoria.' "
Blunt has gone through several boyfriends since her first love. She can't remember his name but does recall when the romance ended "My mum doing that sort of pat on the back saying. 'You are going to laugh about this one day.' "
Before meeting Krasinski, she lived with Canadian singer Michael Buble. "People move on," said Blunt, tapping her fingers and calling attention to a very large round engagement ring. She declined to say how many carats. "I can't give that away. That sounds cheesy."
Being glowingly in love helped Blunt understand the depth of her character's emotions. "She did talk about Albert in a very physical way. Her diary was so expressive. She talked about him on their wedding night, the way he looked and how he sat down gently next to her on the bed. Theirs really was a meeting of souls. When their kids were young, if he left for the weekend, a cloud descended down. She was just so miserable without him."
Sometimes she was miserable with him. "She and Albert used to fight. I mean she talked about doors just slamming and these screams reverberating around the castle. She really didn't care. She loved intensely."
"The Young Victoria" came about because of a royal intervention. Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, brought the idea to some Hollywood acquaintances.
"She came up with the initial idea, which was very smart because it hasn't been done before. She's resilient. She's got a lot of connections and is quite the entrepreneur," said Blunt who spoke to the duchess after the movie was complete.
"I discovered that she responds much more to Albert's character, which is being the outsider."
Blunt considers herself fortunate in the range of roles that have come her way. Early next year she will be seen opposite Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins in "Wolfman," playing the fiancee of the title character's dead brother. Fans were in a dither when the movie got postponed first from an April release date then a November one.
"I have no control whatsoever over that," Blunt said. "I think maybe the fanboys are itching to see it - such a frenzy trying to get their teeth into the Wolfman, either to slam it or to love it."
