Dick Van Dyke had to pay for his second role in ‘Mary Poppins’.
The 92-year-old actor is known for his portrayal of chimney sweep Bert in the 1964 movie but he also portrayed banker Mr. Dawes Sr. too, and had to work hard to persuade Walt Disney to let him have the second part.
He recalled in conversation with Lin-Manuel Miranda for ABC’s upcoming ‘Mary Poppins Returns: Behind the Magic – A Special Edition of 20/20’: "I said, ‘I’ll do it for nothing.’ Actually, I had to give him $4,000 dollars. I had to pay him to do the part."
When the ‘Hamilton’ creator further pressed whether Dick handed any money over to Disney, he quipped: "And I’d do it again."
Lin-Manuel pointed out how many viewers fail to spot the veteran actor in his second role in the film, which Dick admitted he was well aware of.
The 38-year-old star said: "I always, when I tell my friends you’re in it. They go, ‘Oh, he’s playing Bert,’ I go, ‘Remember he played two parts in that movie.’ "
Dick agreed: "It’s funny when you’re a kid and you see it, you don’t realise that. You don’t realise it’s you in that other part.
"But you know, when they made me up as the old man in the old one, I had to go to go to Walt and ask him for the part, he didn’t give it to me."
Dick has another role to play in the upcoming ‘Mary Poppins Returns’ – which also stars Lin-Manuel opposite Emily Blunt as Mary – and admitted he was very "excited" when he first heard about the project, in which he plays Mr. Dawes Jr..
He said: "I got excited, of course, that there was going to be one, and, of course, my first question was: ‘Can I be in it?’ "
Dick Van Dyke paid for Mary Poppins role
