Actress Emily Blunt is fishing for just the right roles

Since bursting onto the scene in “The Devil Wears Prada,” Emily Blunt has rarely gone fishing for roles. If anything, it’s been Hollywood that’s been casting a line for her considerable talents in movies as varied as the black comedy “Sunshine Cleaning” to the haughty costume drama, “The Young Victoria.” But when her agent called two years ago dangling a script sporting the admittedly intriguing title of “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen,” she was quick to take the lure. “I remember him saying ‘you’re going to really like it.’ And I said, ‘The title is so weird.’ And he said, ‘Just wait, it’s so surprising and so cool.’ And I loved it! I had pretty much signed on in my head after about 30 pages,” said the gorgeous Brit, perhaps best known in these parts for reeling in Boston catch John Krasinski. “I think the movie has such an important message; that thing of East meets West, joining together for some shared aspiration,” added Blunt while visiting Boston last week to promote the quirky comedy in which she plays a publicist for a stinking rich sheik (beautifully played by Amr Waked) who wants to join forces with the British government to bring salmon fishing to the Middle East. It also didn’t hurt that the movie, opening in Boston on Friday, features a couple of big fish in director Lasse Hallstrom (“Cider House Rules,” “Chocolat”) and writer Simon Beaufoy, a three-time Oscar nominee and winner for “Slumdog Millionaire.” But what attracted Blunt most was the opportunity to work with Ewan McGregor, who portrays her dorky love interest, a buttoned-up government stooge, and Kristin Scott Thomas, who plays the British prime minister’s blustery, expletive-spewing chief of staff. “She’s heaven,” Blunt said of Thomas. “She plays the most ludicrous woman in this film, and is so mercilessly funny and rude. And she was great to be around. She’s quite intimidating when you meet her; then you realize that she prefers that you take a piss out of her. She’s incredibly inspiring because – and she would probably roll her eyes hearing me say this – she downplays everything about herself. She is so British. That’s what I love about Kristin. She’s just lit from within; you just can’t take your eyes off of her onscreen.” It’s not easy to avert your peepers from Blunt, either. She just turned 29, but she’s already taken Hollywood by storm. Many in the business have even dared to compare her to her “Prada” costar, Meryl Streep, the reigning Oscar-winner who has dubbed her learned protégé the best young actress she’s ever seen.