Emily Blunt had to be "ushered away" because she couldn't stop laughing when she met US President Barack Obama.

The British actress has met and worked with a host of famous faces since shooting to fame. Despite this, she was still overcome with emotion when she was introduced to the world leader in Washington.

Emily says coming face-to-face with Obama in December last year was one of the highlights of her career so far.

"Obama, that was my worst, I was so starstruck. The Kennedy Center was honouring Meryl Streep and asked me to go along and say a bit. Afterwards, we were at the White House having cocktails and this woman said, Would you like to meet President Obama?' They introduced me and then he turned to me and went, Oh. Oh. You are a wonderful actress.' And I laughed, screechingly and hysterically. I couldn't stop," she told the May issue of UK magazine Elle. "They had to usher me away. I fell apart. I don't know what happened to me. He looked nine-feet tall. I think my eyes rolled back in my head. I gave Michelle a hug and she had skin like silk."

Emily copes with fame by detaching her career from her private life.

The 29-year-old star may have received praise from legends such as her former co-star Meryl, but she tries to separate herself from the hype.

"You have a detachment from who you think you are in the most obscene way," she explained. "I don't want to ever get over that. It's really surreal and I feel like it shouldn't be any other way."