'Girl On The Train' Explores Gender Double Standard, Emily Blunt Explains

Days before “Girl on the Train” premieres in theaters, the film’s lead actress said there’s a double standard for men and women when it comes to alcohol and sexuality. Emily Blunt's character, Rachel Watson, is an alcoholic, but the actress said abusing liquor and promiscuity is portrayed differently for men and women.

“A woman is a drunk, a whore, whereas the guy's like a partyer, a player,” the British-born star told The Hollywood Reporter in an exclusive interview Wednesday. “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. And maybe she doesn't want to settle down, and that's OK. And maybe she doesn't want a kid, and that's OK. And she's just happy playing the field. There's so much judgment with women.”

Another thing Blunt likes about the character is that she is unpleasant. “With so many movies, women are held to what a man considers a feminine ideal,” the star explained. “You have to be pretty. You have to be ‘likable,’ which is my least favorite bloody word in the industry. 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?”

In the book on which it is based, Rachel is often described as “fat” and unattractive. But that doesn’t mean Blunt, who is the complete opposite, cannot portray her in the film. “People say, ‘Oh, she's way too beautiful to play her,’” the novel’s author, Paul Hawkins, told The Hollywood Reporter about of the actress. “But that doesn't matter. The thing about Rachel is her self-loathing, about what she feels about herself, and Emily really brought that out in the way she carries herself. All that damage is visible.” Hawkins' book, also titled “Girl on the Train,” was published Jan. 13, 2015.

In a previous interview with the Daily Mail Sept. 19, Hawkins admitted that Blunt is “too beautiful” to play Rachel, but that the film crew from “Girl on the Train” did a good job of “making her look a bit s---.”

“Girl on the Train” premieres in theaters nationwide Friday, Oct. 7.

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