THE RUNDOWNEmily Blunt spoke in her ELLE Women in Hollywood speech about how “Try a Little Tenderness” by Otis Redding inspired her to become an actress.“If you know the song, there’s a bit where he goes absolutely bonkers and he riffs, and he’s got this wild abandon... It’s like he’s possessed. And I just remember as a kid thinking, ‘I want to feel that badly,’” she said.Blunt was introduced by her friend and Smashing Machine co-star Dwayne Johnson.For Emily Blunt, her love for self-expression began with a song. The ELLE Women in Hollywood honoree spoke during her speech at our L.A. event about how “Try a Little Tenderness” by Otis Redding inspired her to become an actress.“At the time, I was 7 when I heard it, and I was somewhat frozen in my body because I had a really bad stutter,” she said. “I was also from England, where we don’t express ourselves that wildly emotionally. If you know the song, there’s a bit where he goes absolutely bonkers and he riffs, and he’s got this wild abandon. You feel this full wingspan of letting go. He’s almost scream-singing. It’s like he’s possessed. And I just remember as a kid thinking, ‘I want to feel that so much, so badly.’”She went on to share that she’s been able to achieve that throughout her career. “The stories I’ve gotten to tell and the characters I’ve gotten to play have given me that feeling. I’m most grateful for that.”Blunt closed by thanking her family and looking back on how far she’s come. “I’m in equal parts so grateful for my beautiful family, who are just the softest place to land after I’m done trying to shake it like Otis. It has been a beautiful journey and it gives me whiplash watching it back. It’s very wild. So, thank you. I appreciate it so much.”The Smashing Machine actress was introduced by her friend and co-star Dwayne Johnson, who reflected on first seeing her onscreen in The Devil Wears Prada. “There was something interesting about her,” he recalled. “I remember thinking back then, and I told her this, ‘I’d love to work with her one day.’”He continued, “Emily, like all these actresses here, can act 10 feet tall, and there’s a real force of nature behind her. You can feel it.” Johnson also noted that Blunt will go down as “one of the greatest actors of our time.”LISA O'CONNOR//Getty ImagesWatch her full speech above.In her ELLE profile, Blunt spoke candidly about the best and worst parts of being a woman in Hollywood. “The worst part is the scrutiny. Absolutely, without hesitation,” she said. “I try to let it be like white noise. But I’m not immune to it. Also, don’t Google yourself. It’s a slippery slope. And the best part is this community—such abstract, wild, joyful people to be around, the creatives.”She recalled one of her first experiences learning from another actress: “In my first play, [I acted with] Dame Judi Dench, and she was so magical to me. I was 18. I learned a couple of things from her. She was really the lily pad to everything else. She was so kind to me, and even though I was the only person under the age of 50 in that cast, she never made me feel like I wasn’t welcome in her dressing room. I felt like one of the gang. It was because of her inclusion every day. She has a funny, naughty, amazing sense of humor, and does not take herself seriously at all. She takes the work seriously, but not herself seriously. So it was that kind of balance that became really inspiring to me.”She added, “I saw someone at the very top of their game, one of the most revered actors around, and I saw how much humor was injected into every day. She was a big presence for me. Mischievous and just delightful. I was a kid and she was like, ‘Darling, come upstairs. I’ve got Starbucks for us.’ Then she’d be like, ‘Come upstairs. Pierce Brosnan’s dropping by.’ It was heaven. I was just in a constant state of dork-out that whole job. I wept when it ended, wept. I was beside myself.”More on Emily BluntEmily Blunt on the Roles That Changed Her LifeEmily Blunt on The Devil Wears Prada 2Emily Blunt on The Devil Wears Prada 2