Julie Andrews Will Not Appear In ‘Mary Poppins Returns,’ Here’s Why
It’s been a good week for fans anxiously awaiting any snippet of information they could find about Walt Disney Pictures’Mary Poppins Returns. The studioreleased a batch of new photosfrom the movie showing offEmily Bluntas the new (and perfectly cast) Ms. Poppins, as well as our first look at the rest of the cast, which includesLin-Manuel Miranda,Ben Whishaw,Emily Mortimer, and more.
But there’s some bad news for those hoping the new movie would feature the best part of the original. Now we know thatJulie Andrews, the woman who made P.L. Travers' beloved nanny a cinematic icon, won’t be appearing in the new movie.
Entertainment Weeklyspoke with directorRob Marshall(Chicago) and discovered why Andrews won’t be cameoing in the new film. It’s certainly not because she has any ill will about a sequel being made, or that Blunt is taking over the role – Marshall says Andrews supports the sequel “one thousand percent” and loves the idea of Blunt taking up the mantle:
It turns out the reason Andrews won’t be showing up is because she respects Blunt’s work so much that she doesn’t want to distract from it. Marshall continued:
“Julie was incredibly gracious, and we talked about it in a very general way but she made it clear right up front. She said, ‘This is Emily’s show, and I really want it to be Emily’s show. I don’t want it to be, “Oh, here comesthatMary Poppins.” I don’t want that. I really want her to take this and run with it, because she will be brilliant.'”
On one hand, it may have been nice to see Andrews pop up briefly and put a smile on people’s faces, especially since her originalMary Poppinsco-starDick Van Dykealready has a cameo role (but he won’t be reprising his role as Bert). But then again, it’s nice that the film won’t have to come to a complete stop to pay tribute to yet another icon, because that almost never benefits the current story the filmmakers are trying to tell. Andrews knows that a majority of the sequel’s audience would be thrilled to see her, even if just for a moment, so the fact that she respects the storytelling enough to take a cameo off the table actually makes me respect her even more.
