I know I’m not supposed to seek approval from others but I do and I would definitely want it from Julie Andrews. Emily Blunt got Julie’s approval on playing Mary Poppins even before it was announced that Emily was cast. And it all happened in the Hamptons, which is not important but that just sounds so wonderfully civilized; Dame Julie graciously passing the proverbial umbrella in the Hamptons. I know my circle of friends is already on board with Emily in this role, but we have all have a collective crush on Emily and nobody cares about our opinion. Now, however, we can add Julie to our ranks and act really snooty about it.
Practically perfect in every way! Julie Andrews has given her blessing for Emily Blunt to play the iconic Mary Poppins in the remake of the 1964 Disney classic.
Blunt, 33, revealed to Entertainment Weekly that Mary Poppins Returns director Rob Marshall had a conversation with the star of the original, now 80, who won the Academy Award for her performance as the magical nanny. “Rob said he was in the Hamptons, and he saw [Andrews], and he said, ‘It’s top secret, but Emily Blunt’s paying Mary Poppins,’” Blunt said. “And she went, ‘Oh, wonderful!’”
“I felt like I wanted to cry,” she continued. “It was lovely to get her stamp of approval. That took the edge off it, for sure.”
[From US Weekly]
I understand why people stepping into famous roles want the approval of their predecessors. However, as we have seen with some recent retellings, it really doesn’t matter what the predecessor thinks as far as the public is concerned. A public that wants to be pissed off about a remake won’t be swayed.
Emily said that theirs will be a slightly different version of Mary Poppins – that Mary isn’t going to be as nice. Apparently – I had no idea – P.L. Travers wrote eight Mary Poppins books. That puts this sequel in a whole new light for me if there is material for a continuation. The children, Jane and Michael Banks, are grown and Mary revisits them after a personal loss. Lin-Manuel Miranda is in talks to play Jack the Lamplighter and Emily will re-team with her Devil Wears Prada and Into the Woods co-star Meryl Streep, who will play Mary’s cousin, Topsy Turvey.
Does Julie Andrews’ approval make you any more excited? I might go out and read the rest of the Travers books to gauge my excitement. I do know that I will miss two things no matter what: Dick Van Dyke’s accent and Julie’s singing. Just for fun: according to Tumblr, if you write “-2 -2 X =” with a pencil on a piece of paper, it sounds similar to the song Chim Chim Cher-ee. I think it does.
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