Lady vanishes
Emily Blunt talks this year’s Gone Girl...
DIRECTOR Tate Taylor STARRING Emily Blunt, Justin Theroux, Rebecca Ferguson, Luke Evans
ETA 7 October
When Paula Hawkins’ debut novel, The Girl On The
Train, was published in early 2015, it was swiftly dubbed ‘the new Gone Girl’ – and for good reason. A multi-perspective missing person mystery, Hawkins’ thriller carried the same flavour as Gillian Flynn’s runaway hit. Selling three million copies in the US alone by mid-last year, DreamWorks swiftly snapped up the movie rights in an effort to
echo Gone Girl’s $369m box office.
The comparisons don’t stop there, with a British star earmarked for the title role. In this case, Emily Blunt, cast as Rachel Watson, a lonely divorcee who rides the train into the big city every day, passing by her ex-husband Tom’s new home that he shares with his former mistress Anna and their new baby. Adding to the intrigue is a house just a few doors down, occupied by the seemingly perfect Megan and her husband – a relationship Rachel envies, until one day Megan disappears.
Playing someone who becomes increasingly entwined in the mystery after waking up unable to recall her own whereabouts on the night of Megan’s disappearance, Blunt feels the story is more than just a whodunnit. “Yes, there is a thriller element but that was never the aspect of the book that I found the most exciting – ‘Who murdered who?’ It was actually that this is a great portrayal of three incredibly damaged women, particularly my character, and it’s about addiction and it’s about voyeurism and what we think we see and don’t see.”
Purists may carp that Hawkins’ novel has been relocated from London to upstate New York in the adaptation by Erin Cressida Wilson ( Secretary, Men,
Women & Children). But the author has given her blessing, noting: “I’m not really concerned about the repositioning and I think it is the type of story that could take place in any commuter town.”
Directed by Tate Taylor ( The Help, Get On Up), the essence of the book will seemingly remain the same – with Blunt using words like “intense” and “violent” to describe it. “The fact that your heroine is a black-out drunk is really exciting – she becomes the most unreliable witness and spends the whole film trying to remember what she saw because she was drunk. And I think it’s a thrilling way to work.”
Recalling Christopher Nolan’s Memento, which similarly boasted a memory-addled protagonist, “It’s a very visual film,” promises Blunt, “and we have a very extraordinary DP shooting it – Charlotte Bruus Christensen.” It’s also got an intriguing cast, with Rebecca Ferguson ( Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation) brought on to play Anna, Justin Theroux
Inland Empire) as Tom and Haley Bennett ( Music And Lyrics) as Megan. While there were changes on the casting carousel due to scheduling conflicts – Theroux replaced Chris Evans, and Luke Evans took over from Jared Leto to play Megan’s husband Scott – there can be no doubt about the buzz around what promises to be one of the autumn’s must-see movies. Ferguson even reportedly took herself out of the running for the female lead opposite Channing Tatum in X-Men spin-off Gambit to land the character of Anna.
For Blunt, the part has been little short of revelatory. “It’s the most challenging role I’ve ever been asked to do, and the role that requires all of me. Very exposing, very exciting work,” she says. “It’s working in a very emotional way… It’s not a walk in the park, in any capacity.” Indeed, given the success Rosamund Pike experienced taking the lead in Gone
Girl, with a first Oscar nomination, there’s every chance that Blunt, who narrowly missed out for
Sicario this year, will follow suit. Now that would be a train worth catching.