London, Nov 30 (IANS): Actress Emily Blunt, who stammered right from her childhood, discovered acting as a therapy to overcome the stutter.

The "Mary Poppins Returns" star had a speech impediment when she was growing up and she used to focus on "watching and listening" to people because she "couldn't speak fluently", reported femalefirst.co.uk.

She said: "Because I couldn't speak fluently, I watched and listened. I would be on the Tube, and I would wonder about people and invent back stories for everyone. There's always been a natural desire to walk in the shoes of others.

"It started quite young, because it was the only tool I had to speak properly. I was that kid, upstairs in my room, trying out stuff in the mirror. But I would never tell anyone about it. It was always very private."

In an interview to Harper's Bazaar magazine, Blunt talked about how overcoming a childhood stutter has helped to shape her as an adult as the bullying she suffered taught her some important life lessons.

"I think whatever you have to overcome in life ultimately paves the way (for whom you become as an adult). I got teased a lot, and to this day, I hate unkindness in people and bullies."