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Mary Poppins Returns won't feature Julie Andrews, but here's why - SciFiNow

Mary Poppins Returns won’t feature Julie Andrews, but here’s why

Julie Andrews isn’t going to be in Mary Poppins Returns but she has a great excuse

So, the bad news is that original Mary Poppins actor Julie Andrews won’t be appearing in Mary Poppins Returns. The good news is that Andrews is still as classy as she ever was.

Speaking to EW, Rob Marshall (the film’s director) revealed why she didn’t want to take part and make an appearance alongside Emily Blunt, who will be playing Poppins this time round.

He said: “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 comes that Mary Poppins. I don’t want that. I really want her to take this and run with it, because she will be brilliant.'”

Classy as ever.

Andrews originally took the role of Mary Poppins after missing out on Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady to Audrey Hepburn. The former ended up winning an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Actress in 1965. She thanked My Fair Lady executive Jack Warner for not casting her in her Golden Globe acceptance speech.

Andrews has class for days.

Mary Poppins Returns will have at least one familiar face in it, as Bert actor Dick Van Dyke has revealed that he’ll be appearing in what we presume will be a cameo role. The film is set to take place 25 years after the events of the original film, and will see Mary Poppins return to the Banks’ household when Jane and Michael experience a personal loss.

Chicago and Into The Woods‘ Rob Marshall is directing, and the film will feature an original screenplay from David Magee based on childrens’ author PL Travers’ The Mary Poppins Stories. Marshall, John DeLuca and Marc Platt are producing. It will also include an all-new score by Marc Shaiman and original songs by Shaiman and Scott Wittman.

Joining Blunt and Van Dyke are Lin-Manuel Miranda as Jack the Street Lamplighter, Meryl Streep as Poppins’ cousin Topsy, Colin Firth as bank manager William Weatherall Wilkins, Ben Whishaw as Michael Banks, Emily Mortimer as Jane Banks, Christian Dixon as the Milkman and Angela Lansbury in an as yet unconfirmed role.

Mary Poppins Returns is in cinemas from 21 December 2018. You can buy the original film on Blu-ray for £6.99 from Amazon.co.uk. Get all the latest fantasy news with every issue of SciFiNow.