The Iconic '80s Movies Emily Blunt Is Totally Obsessed With

Emily Blunt has starred in her fair share of beloved films. The British actor's first big hit came with the 2006 dramedy "The Devil Wears Prada," which also established Blunt's close relationship with Meryl Streep, a role she later revisited in the the 2026 sequel. Blunt's husband, John Krasinski, cast her as the lead in "A Quiet Place," while she also memorably appeared in "Looper," "Edge of Tomorrow," and "Oppenheimer," which even scored her an Oscar nomination. However, while the films that made Blunt's career are one thing, those that helped shape her taste in cinema to begin with are another beast entirely. 

Given that the actor was a child of the 1980s, it should come as no surprise that the movies she was totally obsessed with growing up were of that particular era. In 2021, Blunt starred opposite Dwayne Johnson in "Jungle Cruise," which was based on the popular Disneyland ride of the same name. During a press conference promoting its release the beloved Brit spoke about some of the movies "Jungle Cruise" sought to emulate, including a few that she had "mainlined [...] into [her] veins" growing up (via We Live Entertainment). 

Specifically, Blunt named the 1950s classic "The African Queen" (which was remade as a made-for-TV movie in 1977), as well as '80s staples "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Romancing the Stone," enthusing, "[Those movies] are just joy bombs, and they're nostalgic." Little did the actor realize that, just a few years later, she would get the opportunity to work with the legendary director behind more than one of her faves.

Emily Blunt specifically shouting out "Raiders of the Lost Ark" as one of the movies she couldn't get enough of growing up is especially interesting, considering the fact that it's far from the only Steven Spielberg film she has cited as being one of her all-time favorites. Over the years, the "Devil Wears Prada" star has also been only too happy to publicly declare her undying love for his seminal 1975 summer blockbuster "Jaws." During a June 2026 interview with Entertainment Tonight, Blunt dished on a viral moment where she and fellow actors Josh O'Connor and Colman Domingo surprised Spielberg at a press event while wearing T-shirts of some of his most famous films. 

Unsurprisingly, Blunt chose "Jaws," dishing, "I adamantly told them that if any of them showed up in 'Jaws' there was gonna be hell to pay. They know full well that's my favorite. [...] I did threaten their lives if they showed up wearing 'Jaws.' I was like, 'That's mine.'" O'Connor ended up wearing an "E.T." shirt, while Domingo went with "Jurassic Park," thankfully avoiding their colleague's wrath in the process. Of course, the reason the trio took it upon themselves to surprise the iconic filmmaker in the first place was because they all starred in his 2026 sci-fi flick, "Disclosure Day." 

And Blunt certainly wasn't shy about disclosing what it was like to work with one of her heroes. "He loves movie stories," she gushed of Spielberg during a June 2026 appearance on "Late Night with Seth Meyers," adding, "We dork out with him for things like, 'Where they really eating that in 'Temple of Doom?' And how did you do the spiders?' I mean, it's just heaven. [...] We really geeked out being around him."