‘Mary Poppins Returns’ Cast, Updates: Emily Blunt Nervous On Portraying Iconic Role; Julie Andrews Reacts to Blunt’s Casting

‘Mary Poppins Returns’ lead actress Emily Blunt expressed her nervousness in portraying Julie Andrews’ iconic role from the original 1964 adaptation ‘Mary Poppins’. However, Andrews gave her blessing to the new casting.

Blunt is set to take over as the new version of the magical nanny famously portrayed by Julie Andrews in the original live-action adaptation of P.L. Travers’ character of the same name.

During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Blunt expressed her nervousness in portraying Andrew’s iconic role from the 1964  musical comedy and fantasy film ‘Mary Poppins’ – a role that won Andrews an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award in the same year.

Blunt said, “I feel a little more trepidation with this [character] because she’s so emblematic of people’s nostalgia… It’s such an important character in people’s childhood.”

She continued to explain that her version of Mary Poppins will differ from Andrews’ saying, “We’re delving into the books a lot more… which is a different version of the character, I’ll say that much… She’s a little meaner, yeah.”

However, it seems that Andrews herself has given Blunt her blessing. The 33-year old English actress recalled director Rob Marshall telling her that he met with Andrews and her reaction when he told the award-winning actress the news of her casting. She said, “Rob said he was in the Hamptons, and he saw [Andrews], and he said, ‘It’s top secret, but Emily Blunt’s playing Mary Poppins… And she went, ‘Oh, wonderful!’”

She added, “I felt like I wanted to cry… It was lovely to get her stamp of approval. That took the edge off it, for sure.”

Blunt is best known for her critically-acclaimed performances on David Frankel’s comedy film ‘The Devil Wears Prada’, Doug Liman’s science-fiction and action film ‘Edge of Tomorrow’, Lasse Hallstrom’s romantic comedy and drama film ‘Salmon Fishing in Yemen’, and Rob Marshall’s musical fantasy film ‘Into The Wild’. She is also set to star in Tate Taylor’s cinematic take on Paula Hawkins’ best selling psychological thriller novel ‘The Girl On The Train’.

Marshall’s upcoming film will be the sequel to the original film from the 1960s. According to the synopsis posted on the Independent, ‘Mary Poppins Returns’ will be set in Depression-era London. Mary Poppins will be returning now grown-up Jane and Michael as well as Michael’s three children to help them cope with a personal loss.

‘Mary Poppins Returns’ is an upcoming musical fantasy film directed by Rob Marshall with a screenplay by David Magee. It stars Emily Blunt, Meryl Streep, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. It is scheduled to premiere in theaters in the U.S. on December 25, 2018.