The awards season is heating up with the autumn festivals underway, and Emily Blunt is in line for considered one of its marquee tributes. The Academy Award nominee will obtain the nineteenth annual Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
Blunt, who received the Actor Award (previously generally known as SAG Award) for her supporting flip in John Krasinski’s horror hit “A Quiet Place” and the Golden Globe for the British TV drama “Gideon’s Daughter,” might be feted with the prize named for the legendary display screen actor. The honor, which advantages the pageant’s year-round academic packages, might be introduced Thursday, Dec. 10, 2026, at a black-tie dinner in Santa Barbara.
“Emily Blunt takes risks most actors wouldn’t dare, moving between drama, comedy and blockbuster spectacle with the same precision and commitment,” says Michael Douglas. “That range and authenticity are exactly what the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film was created to celebrate. We’re proud to honor her.”
Niko Tavernise
This summer time, Blunt drew a number of the strongest opinions of her profession for Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi epic “Disclosure Day,” wherein she stars reverse Josh O’Connor as Margaret Fairchild, a Kansas City TV meteorologist whose more and more inexplicable experiences pull her right into a sweeping effort to reveal the existence of extraterrestrial life. The position lets Blunt play the complete width of her vary, shifting between humor, concern, confusion, vulnerability and marvel.
The efficiency marks one other peak in Blunt’s profession. She earned her first Academy Award nomination as Kitty Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan’s finest image winner “Oppenheimer,” and landed a Golden Globe nom earlier this yr for her work reverse Dwayne Johnson in Benny Safdie’s “The Smashing Machine.” She has moved fluidly throughout drama, comedy, motion, musicals and thrillers in “A Quiet Place” and “A Quiet Place Part II,” “Sicario,” “Edge of Tomorrow,” “Into the Woods,” “Mary Poppins Returns,” “Looper” and “The Devil Wears Prada.” Earlier this yr, she reprised her breakout position as Emily Charlton in “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” reuniting with Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway and Stanley Tucci twenty years after the unique turned a cultural phenomenon.
Since 2006, the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film has gone to a lifelong contributor to cinema in entrance of the digital camera, behind it or each. Past honorees embrace Cynthia Erivo, Will Ferrell, Ryan Gosling, Michelle Yeoh, Martin Scorsese, Hugh Jackman, Judi Dench, Warren Beatty, Jane Fonda, Jessica Lange, Forest Whitaker, Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Harrison Ford, Quentin Tarantino, Ed Harris and John Travolta.
Last yr’s program featured greater than 200 movies, together with 46 world premieres and 80 U.S. premieres from 50 international locations. More than 60 Academy Award winners and nominees had been celebrated, together with Michael B. Jordan, Leonardo DiCaprio, Benicio del Toro, Sean Penn, Kate Hudson, Stellan Skarsgård, Ethan Hawke, Jacob Elordi, Chase Infiniti, Amy Madigan, Wagner Moura, Renate Reinsve, Teyana Taylor, Wunmi Mosaku, Chloé Zhao, Joachim Trier, Josh Safdie, Ryan Coogler and Jafar Panahi.
The forty second Santa Barbara International Film Festival runs Feb. 3-13, 2027. Official occasions, together with screenings, filmmaker Q&As, business panels and celeb tributes, will unfold throughout town, amongst them the historic Arlington Theatre, the Riviera Theatre and the brand new McHurley Film Center.