--- title: Emily Blunt Calls Out Double Standards in Hollywood description: Blunt detests the the perception of a character being likable because she thinks it puts women in an uncomfortable position. canonical: https://time.com/4512883/emily-blunt-double-standards-hollywood/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-29T13:35:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:03:28.962Z og:title: Emily Blunt: 'A Woman is a Drunk, Whereas the Guy's a Partyer' og:description: The actress talked double standards and why she hates the word 'likable' og:url: https://time.com/4512883/emily-blunt-double-standards-hollywood/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted6420bf0fdfa7ab/6988a80a524fc0533fdf9a8a/emily-blunt-gender-double-standards-hollywood.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4776 og:image:height: 2687 og:image:alt: BRITAIN-ENTERTAINMENT-FILM-CINEMA-THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Emily Blunt: 'A Woman is a Drunk, Whereas the Guy's a Partyer' twitter:description: The actress talked double standards and why she hates the word 'likable' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted6420bf0fdfa7ab/6988a80a524fc0533fdf9a8a/emily-blunt-gender-double-standards-hollywood.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Emily Blunt: 'A Woman is a Drunk, Whereas the Guy's a Partyer' > Sponsored content. 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It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Sep 29, 2016 1:35 PM UTC  British actress Emily Blunt poses for photographers as she arrives to attend the World Premiere of the film 'The Girl on the Train', in central London on September 20, 2016\. / AFP / DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS (Photo credit should read DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images) British actress Emily Blunt poses for photographers as she arrives to attend the World Premiere of the film 'The Girl on the Train', in central London on September 20, 2016\. / AFP / DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS (Photo credit should read DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images)DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS-AFP/Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Sep 29, 2016 1:35 PM UTC [Emily Blunt](http://time.com/4473275/emily-blunt-girl-on-the-train-interview/) lives up to her last name on a few things: she hates the word “likable” (it’s her “least favorite word in the industry”) and she’s sick of double standards plaguing [Hollywood’s](http://motto.time.com/4308697/lili-taylor-women-hollywood/) characters. Blunt and Paula Hawkins, author of [_Girl on the Train_](http://time.com/4411019/the-girl-on-the-train-second-trailer-emily-blunt/), the film in which Blunt plays the main character, open up to _The Hollywood Reporter_ in their most recent [cover story](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/emily-blunt-girl-train-author-933239?utm%5Fsource=twitter). Blunt detests the the perception of a character being likable because she thinks it puts women in an uncomfortable position. She tells _Hollywood Reporter_, “With so many movies, women are held to what a man considers a feminine ideal. You have to be pretty. You have to be ‘likable.'” Blunt questions why looks and appearances are required to fit into this “feminine ideal.” She uses Rachel, the character she plays in _Girl on the Train,_ as a prime example: “Rachel isn’t ‘likable.’ What does that mean? To be witty and pretty and hold it together and be there for the guy? And he can just be a total drip?” [_Follow Motto on Facebook_](https://www.facebook.com/mottoworkplaylive/)_._ Paula Hawkins defends her decision to have Blunt play Rachel, a character with a drinking problem who may or may not have witnessed or committed a crime. Hawkins said, “People say, ‘Oh, she’s way too beautiful to play her.’ But that doesn’t matter. ” In both the book and movie, _Hollywood Reporter_ points out that the three women characters are “strong (each flawed in their own way)” whereas the men in their respective lives “fall on the spectrum from weak to loathsome.” Although the women in _Girl on the Train_ appear stronger than the men, the question of likability still hangs in the balance. Blunt addresses [double standards](http://motto.time.com/4480205/emily-ratajkowski-double-standards/) in the film industry, saying, “There’s so much judgment with women.” This become especially apparent in the character of Rachel, whose vices include alcohol and self-sabotage. Blunt explained, “A woman is a drunk, a whore, whereas the guy’s like a partyer, a player. I’ve been around both women who drink too much and guys who drink too much and it’s just as ugly on the guys. It makes me crazy. I don’t think that women should be seen as any less sexual than a guy.” \[[_Hollywood Reporter_](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/emily-blunt-girl-train-author-933239?utm%5Fsource=twitter)[\]](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/emily-blunt-girl-train-author-933239?utm%5Fsource=twitter) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4512883/emily-blunt-double-standards-hollywood/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4512883/emily-blunt-double-standards-hollywood/"},"headline":"Emily Blunt: 'A Woman is a Drunk, Whereas the Guy's a Partyer'","datePublished":"2016-09-29T13:35:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:03:28.962Z","description":"The actress talked double standards and why she hates the word 'likable'","url":"https://time.com/4512883/emily-blunt-double-standards-hollywood/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted6420bf0fdfa7ab/6988a80a524fc0533fdf9a8a/emily-blunt-gender-double-standards-hollywood.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted6420bf0fdfa7ab/6988a80a524fc0533fdf9a8a/emily-blunt-gender-double-standards-hollywood.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"BRITAIN-ENTERTAINMENT-FILM-CINEMA-THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN","caption":"BRITAIN-ENTERTAINMENT-FILM-CINEMA-THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN","creditText":"DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS-AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4512883/emily-blunt-double-standards-hollywood/","name":"Emily Blunt: 'A Woman is a Drunk, Whereas the Guy's a Partyer'"}}]}] ```