Emily Blunt's beauty toned down for The Girl on the Train

The Girl On The Train author Paula Hawkins has applauded the film adaptation's make-up artists for helping to tone down Emily Blunt's beauty to play an alcoholic.

The Devil Wears Prada star features as troubled divorcee Rachel Watson in the gritty forthcoming drama, but her casting drew some criticism from fans of the literary release as she was deemed "too beautiful" to play the lead character.

During a recent appearance at Britain's Chiswick Book Festival, Hawkins admitted she had similar feelings at first, but had faith in Blunt's acting abilities to be able to pull off the part.

And, after seeing a cut of The Girl on the Train, Hawkins believes filmmakers made the right choice.

"I love Emily Blunt," Hawkins explained, according to DailyMail.co.uk. "Mostly, I thought of her as like a comedy actress. I remember her sort of scene-stealing role in The Devil Wears Prada, but she does the most extraordinary job in this. She really does.

"Everybody moans about, 'Oh, she's too beautiful to play Rachel', and she is (too beautiful). But the thing about Rachel, you know the key part of her is her self-loathing and how bad she feels about herself."

Hawkins went on to say of the film's make-up team, "They've done their best, I mean, to sort of make her look a bit s**t..."

However, the writer reveals it isn't all good news as she has been axed from her own movie.

Hawkins visited the New York City set during filming and appeared as an extra during a shoot at Grand Central station, but the cameo didn't make the final cut.

"I was actually in a shot there, although apparently it's been cut," she laughed.

The Girl on the Train, directed by Tate Taylor, will premiere in London on Tuesday (20Sep16) and be released in October (16).