Earlier this week, Entertainment Weekly revealed new photos from the highly-anticipatedMary Poppins sequelentitledMary Poppins Returns. That report also confirmed a rumor that originalMary Poppinsstar Dick Van Dyke will make a cameo appearance, but not as his original character Bert. However, that report didn’t mention anything about the originalMary Poppinsherself, Julie Andrews, returning to put in an appearance. But director Rob Marshall has now confirmed that Julie Andrews won’t appear inMary Poppins 2, although she does fully support the project.
DirectorRob Marshallwas best known for his work as a director and choreographer on Broadway before making his feature directorial debut with the Best Picture-winning musicalChicago. In 1995, he had actually choreographedJulie Andrewsin the Broadway playVictor/Victoria, and had remained close friends with the actress ever since.Entertainment Weeklyreports that the director and producer John DeLuca approached Julie Andrews aboutMary Poppins Returnsat a Christmas party a few years ago, where he revealed that the movie was happening. Here’s what the director had to say about Julie Andrews' response toMary Poppins Returnsmoving forward.
“She had known it was in the works, then we said, ‘We’re doing it,’ and she said, ‘Oh, thank God.’ Then we said, ‘And we’re thinking ofEmily Blunt,’ and she just threw her hands up in the air and said yes. I think a lot of people feel that way about Emily’s work. Julie will always be, for me and for everybody, the most astonishing performance as Mary Poppins, winning the Oscar and bursting onto the scene so brilliantly. But Emily is the perfect person to carry the torch, and I know Julie feels the exact same way. She loves her.”
The director added that Julie Andrews is “one thousand percent” in support of the movie, which is one of the reasons why she didn’t want to return for a cameo. Rob Marshall revealed that Julie Andrews made it clear early on that she didn’t want to make a cameo, because she didn’t want to take anything away from Emily Blunt’s performance as Mary Poppins. Here’s what the director had to say below.
“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.’ She said it’s time and she said, ‘I know it’ll be cared for.’ And that’s the thing I think about every day when I’m at work. We all do.”
Emily Blunt will be joined by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who plays thelamplighter Jack, with the report from yesterday revealing that Jack was actually an apprentice of Dick Van Dyke’s character Bert from the original movie. The cast also includes Meryl Streep asCousin Topsy, Emily Mortimer as Jane Banks, Ben Whishaw as Michael Banks, Pixie Davies as Annabel Banks, Joel Dawson as Georgie Banks, Nathanael Saleh as John Banks. Disney has set a July 21, 2025 release date forMary Poppins Returns, which will go up against 20th Century Fox’sBohemian Rhapsodyand an untitled Warner Bros. event film.
