Nervous Emily Blunt 'laughed hysterically' in Obama's face

Wonderwall, Sunday, March 4, 2012, 3:46pm (PST)

WENN

• British actress Emily Blunt can't help but cringe whenever she recalls her recent meeting with President Barack Obama - because she lost control of her nerves and began laughing "hysterically" in his face.

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  Blunt was attending the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C. in December to help pay tribute to her "The Devil Wears Prada" co-star Meryl Streep when she was offered the opportunity to greet the President.

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  But the meeting didn't quite go as smoothly as she'd planned when Obama lavished praise on Blunt for her screen work - and it all proved a little too much for her to handle.

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  She recalls, "I'm from England so I didn't think I would be as excited as I apparently was ]to meet Obama], so I was like, he won't know who I am, he'll shake my hand and say, 'Hi, nice to meet you', move on.

  I went to shake his hand and he turned to me, and he put his hand on top of mine and he went, 'I love you. I love what you do, I've seen all of your work.' And I started to laugh hysterically in his face and I didn't say anything except I think I said, 'I appreciate that' or 'I appreciate you' or just something really awful and I couldn't stop laughing!"

  Her bizarre reaction prompted event officials to cut short the meeting and guide her away - and Blunt admits it was a complete disaster.

  She says, "I don't know what happened, I've never fallen to pieces like that in front of anyone... So I got gently removed. I remember feeling a kinda firm grip on my arm as I was ushered away. And Michelle [Obama]) gave me a hug, I think out of pity, because I was such a mess!"