Emily Blunt’s Scariest Stunt Ever May Surprise You: Mary Poppins Returns ‘Was Very Stressful’ (Exclusive)

Emily Blunt is a pro when it comes to action-packed stunt work. Her alien-butt-kicking performance in 2014’s Edge of Tomorrow earned her a Critics Choice Award for best action actress, after all. 

But ask the Oscar nominee, 41, for the scariest stunt of her career and she — surprisingly — won’t name that Tom Cruise hit. “I did some wire stuff in Edge of Tomorrow, which was probably more dangerous, because I took some spills,” Blunt tells PEOPLE exclusively.

Mary Poppins Returns on the other hand? “That entrance was very stressful for me,” she says. 

Inheriting the iconic Julie Andrews role in Disney’s 2018 musical sequel required more bravery than any high-octane thriller, according to Blunt. The character’s entrance “had to start in the clouds and come all the way down” toward the ground while holding an umbrella aloft," she explains. “And I'm supposed to walk effortlessly into my close-up as if it's nothing.”

Of the stunt, she adds, “I did three takes — and then I felt my tolerance go, ‘Pfft!’ And that was it. I was done.”

Rob Marshall, who directed the sequel written by David Magee and costarring the likes of Lin-Manuel Miranda and Meryl Streep, wanted to go for a fourth. “I did three takes and I could see Rob gearing up to do another one. I was like, ‘Nope, no, no, no, I'm done.’ It was over,” Blunt recalls.

Ryan Gosling, Blunt’s costar in the new action-comedy The Fall Guy, is quick to praise the movie’s “epic” moment. “Hell of an entrance, though,” he says.

“Epic,” agrees Blunt, grimacing at the memory. 

The movie’s other memorable stunt — involving Mary zooming backwards into the depths of a magical bathtub — was no sweat in comparison. “That was okay. That was a slide,” she says.

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As for The Fall Guy, Blunt plays Jody Moreno, the director of movie-within-a-movie Metal Storm. Directed by David Leitch, the story loosely based on the Lee Majors TV series of the same name follows Gosling’s Colt Seavers as he attempts to find Metal Storm’s missing leading man (played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson).

Leitch, 48, also has a surprising answer when asked for the wildest stunt in The Fall Guy — a movie that features a world record-breaking number of car flips, fire burns and fights. “I think the biggest stunt is falling in love,” the director tells PEOPLE. 

The romance between Colt and Jody is what propels the character-driven story forward, he explains. “It's been great for us as filmmakers to plant this big love story in the middle of this action piece… Love is the most dangerous stunt.”

The Fall Guy is now in theaters.