In a recent ScreenRant interview, Emily Blunt revealed that she had a few struggles to overcome in order to play Mary Poppins in Mary Poppins Returns, the upcoming sequel to the 1964 Disney classic.
Blunt is an incredibly talented and accomplished actress so it might be hard to imagine anything being difficult for her. However, she had plenty to say when she was asked what found to be her biggest challenge on the film:
“The dancing, probably. I feel that I just try to approach her as I would any other character and not be caught up in the white noise of, “Oh my God, you are Mary Poppins.” I think that has been my main focus, is just to approach her calmly, as I would any other character, how I would play her, with what I have given on the page? I have not watched the [original] since I saw it as a child, cause I… no one is going to outdo Julie Andrews. I think I just want to… this is just going to be my version her. The dancing has been the most daunting prospect for me.”
The bar is incredibly high since Blunt is following in the footsteps of Julie Andrews but it’s even higher when one remembers that Andrews was already an acclaimed Broadway star before she made her film debut as the practically perfect nanny. That already high bar is sent even higher with Blunt’s co-star Lin-Manuel Miranda, whose Broadway stardom has lifted him into one of his first starring roles.
All of Blunt’s anxiety about her dancing seems to be for naught, since both producer Marc Platt and director Rob Marshall praised Blunt’s performance with Platt saying that Blunt “sings beautifully and dances magnificently”.
Marry Poppins Returns is slated for release on December 19, 2018.
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