It’s 10am on a Wednesday morning and Monique Eastwood has just been putting the actress Emily Blunt through her paces during their regular fitness workouts.
Blunt, 43, is a household name and is about to hit theatre screens in the US for the much-anticipated sequel to the 2006 smash hit comedy, The Devil Wears Prada.
Chances are, you haven’t heard of Eastwood, yet the 59-year-old fitness guru is credited with helping Blunt – and numerous Hollywood stars – to stay in shape with the Eastwood Movement Method (EMM), which focuses on short, high-energy routines that emphasise movement, grace, and body control.
Not surprisingly, Eastwood’s reputation is growing and through her app, Eastwood Fit, she is helping clients across the world to achieve their fitness goals.
“I firmly believe that mental and physical wellbeing are equally important, and a core principle of the Method is to harmonise both,” says Eastwood. “The focus is on the importance of everyday movement and high intensity workouts with tailored exercises to improve flexibility and body alignment.”
The Road to Success
Eastwood’s success is far from overnight and is the culmination of many years working in dance and building a foundational knowledge of the human body.
She trained as a professional ballerina at the prestigious Bush Davies British Ballet school and enjoyed a professional dancing career that spanned 10 years.
Early career highlights included performances for South Africa’s premier ballet companies PACT ballet company and NAPAC ballet Durban.
From ballet, Eastwood transitioned to Sun City, for a Vegas-style change where she performed up to three times a day.
In 1990, Eastwood combined her love of dance with her knowledge of Pilates and fitness to create EMM.
Until 2020, much of her fitness training was face-to-face but the Covid pandemic persuaded Eastwood to launch live, Zoom-based workouts.
It means that while she is based in the UK, Eastwood helps people all over the world to achieve their fitness goals with online training and pre-recorded classes via her EastwoodFit app.
Raw and Unpolished
Eastwood deliberately shuns a glossy, highly polished app and insists on unedited content to ensure that EMM remains “raw and authentic”.
For the price of a few cappuccinos, monthly subscribers get unlimited access to hundreds of workouts, like those used by celebrities.
Eastwood also streams live routines, usually on Friday mornings, and performs them alongside her community in real-time.
Most app classes are 30-40 minutes, based on Eastwood’s belief that short routines that target the entire body are most effective.
“It’s all about brain to body coordination and lots of multi-directional movement to stimulate your core like a dancer. The aim is to develop not just a strong body but a body that’s capable mobility, flexibility and grace.”
Workouts require minimal equipment (dumbbells and a mat) and are designed to be convenient, eliminating the need to travel to a gym.
The app includes a community page for users to interact with Eastwood.
“It’s really important to me to be authentic,” she says. “The app is a bit like reality TV, it’s very raw, I’m with you in real time. It’s not an edited or polished app at all.”
The EMM Community
Blunt is among Eastwood’s biggest fans and the pair first started working together in 2014 when the British actress prepared for a starring role in the action movie Edge of Tomorrow, alongside Tom Cruise.
Eastwood has helped her keep in shape ever since, through pregnancies and for roles requiring dancing and horseback riding.
Blunt’s co-star in The Devil Wears Prada movies, native New Yorker Stanley Tucci, who now lives in London, also credits Eastwood for keeping him healthy and trim.
The pair worked closely on his fitness during filming for the sequel, which opens in theatres on May 1, and Tucci marvels at Monique’s ability to “just know what my body needs on any given day”.
Eastwood also works with Anne Hathaway – another star of The Devil Wears Prada films – and helped the American actress to train for her role as a singer and dancer in the forthcoming film, Mother Mary, which is scheduled for release in April.
Her other celebrity clients currently include Rachel Weisz, Greta Gerwig and Felicity Blunt, as well as past clients Hayley Atwell, Ruth Wilson and the British skier, Jack Gower.
“I suppose you could call me a celebrity trainer,” admits Eastwood, “but really, my clients come from all walks of life. A lot of my community are in their 50s and 60s, many have undergone significant life changes or surgeries and it’s a privilege to help them regain their strength and confidence.”