Emily Blunt on her next big project – motherhood

CEBU, Philippines -  Emily Blunt didn’t have a reason to speak to the press during her pregnancy. Instead, after she finished shooting “Into the Woods,” the 31-year-old actress spent time at home with her husband John Krasinski as they awaited the arrival of their firstborn daughter. The couple welcomed daughter Hazel Krasinski on Februay 16, and the happy family has kept a low profile ever since.

Prior to her little girl’s birth, however, Blunt agreed to do one photo shoot and interview. Dressing her baby bump in a Commando V-neck slip, she posed for Vogue’s April 2014 issue. “It’s really the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me,” she said of imminent motherhood.

Blunt first grabbed attention with her movie-stealing turn as a fashion-world assistant in 2006’s “The Devil Wears Prada,” when she was 22. “I couldn’t have been more surprised that she was that young,” remarks co-star Meryl Streep, who was struck by her “clear, confident comic instincts. Her humor is self-deflective in the manner of people much more veteran.” Her line in that movie, “I’m hearing this [duck-quacking hand gesture] and I wanna hear this [finger and thumb pinched shut],” has become an immortal screen moment — as well as a useful tool in raising children.

When Blunt shot “Into the Woods” (co-starring Johnny Depp, Chris Pine and Streep), her baby bump was just barely becoming visible. “I’m playing a baker’s wife, so I figured she must eat a lot of buns,” she said. “By the end I was doing a lot of creeping behind trees and hiding behind other characters.”

It wasn’t just buns Blunt was craving, however.The star allowed herself “one coffee a day” while pregnant and ordered gluten-free cookies during her interview. “I know everyone rolls their eyes, but I met a hippie doctor who suggested it, and it’s really helped me in the pregnancy,” she said. The actress said she took a “non-fuss, non-intense” approach to the maternity business. “Everyone says don’t go online and read as few books as you possibly can.”

To prepare for her role opposite Tom Cruise in “Edge of Tomorrow,” she spent three months receiving Krav Maga martial-arts training and took gymnastics lessons before suiting up in an 85-pound costume with assault weapons built onto the arms and legs, held together by a steel plate. “I looked like an aerobics teacher by the end of it,” Blunt said of the rigorous film shoot. “It was almost unattractive.”

In hindsight, the British L.A.-based actress told Vogue, “I understand what it takes to get in that kind of shape. And when I got pregnant, not long after I finished the movie, it helped me to keep active.”