Emily Blunt says Dame Julie Andrews was "incredibly supportive" of her playing the titular role in ‘Mary Poppins Returns’.
The 35-year-old actress has put her own spin on the iconic nanny role – which was first portrayed by the 83-year-old star in the Disney 1964 classic – in the new movie and Emily has revealed Andrews was "excited" for her to play the magical character, but chose not be in the reboot because she didn’t want to take the limelight from her.
Speaking to Hugh Jackman for Variety’s ‘Actors on Actors’, Emily said: "I met her years ago at some event. And she was so charming and so lovely. Little did I know that years later I would be off playing Mary Poppins. But Rob [Marshall, the director] was very close with her; she was incredibly supportive of me playing the part and excited for me to do it.
"There was discussion about [how] maybe she would come and do a bit in the movie. She said to Rob, ‘This is Emily’s version of her, and I don’t want it to be that she’s playing Mary Poppins the whole way through, but then I come in like, Oh, but there’s the real Mary Poppins.’
"She didn’t want that for me, which I thought was incredibly gracious. I hope she’ll come to the premiere."
The English beauty also confessed that she "scream cried" when she first saw the film and admitted she was "proud" to be cast in the Disney flick and play such an iconic role.
Emily added: "I sort of ‘scream cried’ after watching it. It was completely overwhelming. And I’m really not one of these people that’s like, ‘You should see my movie.’
"I’ve never been. It is still tricky to watch stuff that you do. I tend to pick it apart a bit. But I watched it completely alone, and I was so proud to be in it."
Emily Blunt says Julie Andrews was ‘supportive’ of Mary Poppins role
