Emily Blunt has revealed that she suffered from a speech impediment as a child which nearly rendered her mute.
The actress admitted that she developed a stuttering problem at the age of 10 and felt increasingly frustrated when interacting with her peers, reports The Daily Telegraph.
"I remember that when it first started to kick in I thought it was a habit," she explained.
"But when it really starts to ingrain itself upon you it becomes an anguished situation to live your life in, especially when you're a kid, when you're only trying to appear very cool. I was definitely not cool."
Blunt added that although her friends began to accept her predicament, she grew paranoid and stopped speaking altogether at the age of 12.
"[I thought] 'Why am I like this? Why have I got this stupid voice problem? Everyone else can talk, what's my problem?'
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"It felt like a mental mountain that I found impossible to overcome."
The 27-year old, who recently spoke at a gala for the American Institute for Stuttering, said that the impediment only corrected itself when she began acting.
"I wouldn't say that I ceased to stutter after that, that it was some huge revelation. But for the first time in five years I was able to speak fluently."
