Girl on the Train Author Says Emily Blunt Is "Too Beautiful" for the Main Role

But Devil Wears Prada actress calls for people to be less judgmental

By Francesca Bacardi Sep 21, 2016 8:45 PMTags
Emily Blunt, Paula HawkinsDavid M. Benett/Dave Benett/WireImage

Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train, doesn't think Emily Blunt is a good fit for the movie adaptation of her novel.

Blunt, who stars as the titular character Rachel Watson, is too pretty to play the main character who is supposed to be an overweight divorcee with a bad drinking problem. "Oh, she's too beautiful to play Rachel," Hawkins told the Daily Mail. "They've done their best, I mean to sort of make her look a bit s--t, but you know..."

Despite her strong opinion about the casting of the movie, Hawkins admitted she did enjoy Blunt's work in The Devil Wears Prada and said she does an "extraordinary job" in this film.

Hawkins' timing couldn't be more perfect, as Blunt spoke Wednesday about the need for more compassion when it comes to women's choices to have a family or not.  

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"There is a tendency in women towards being a bit judgmental of each other, particularly in the domestic environment. Whether you can 'Keep a man'—a phrase which I hate—or whether you breastfeed or don't, whether you want to have children or you don't, whether you can have children," she said Wednesday, expanding on comments she made at the movie's premiere Tuesday.

"Women are sometimes made to feel to be rather defensive about their decisions," she added, "and I don't think that's right. Nobody knows the ins and outs of decisions and we can't be too harsh about them."

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Even though she might be "too beautiful," Blunt admitted she took the role because it was unlike the typical woman. "It's so unusual to have your lead protagonist be female and a blackout drunk," she said. "Women are often required to be an ideal of some description: pretty or likable or witty. But with this character you feel you just don't want to breathe the same air as her. And that sort of toxic persona, physically and mentally, I'd never explored before."

The Girl on the Train is in theaters Oct. 7.