EMILY BLUNT ‘WOULD PAY’ TO PLAY MARY POPPINS AGAIN
Emily Blunt has teased that more Mary Poppins movies are in the pipeline. Chatting to American Vogue, the British actress - who takes over the role of the iconic nanny from Dame Julie Andrews 54 years after the first movie - has said there ‘are more stories to tell’ and that she’d be more than open to another film.
‘Oh, I would pay Rob [Marshall, director] to do it again with me,’ she gushed to the publication for their December issue. ‘Yeah, I would. Definitely. More stories left to tell.’
Also in conversation with the magazine, director Marshall said: ‘I do know that there’s a lot of material there and it’s very rich with all kinds of adventures and ideas. It’s certainly ripe for the picking.’
Mary Poppins originates from a series of books by P L Travers, whom Emma Thompson portrayed in the 2013 film Saving Mr Banks, about the author’s concerns about selling the movie rights of the stories to Disney.
There were eight books in the series, published between 1934 and 1988. Marry Poppins the movie - released in 1964 - was based on books 1-4, while the forthcoming Mary Poppins Returns is said to be an amalgamation of books 2-8, expanding the story beyond Travers’ original stories.
Of the role of Mary herself, Blunt, 35, added: ‘She’s a superhero.
You could say she’s some sort of angel. She recognises what people need, and she gives it to them.
Yet they discover something about themselves in the process.
‘I don’t think she concerns herself with what she is. There’s nobody else like her - which she quite likes.’
The actress - known for roles in the likes of The Devil Wears Prada, The Young Victoria and A Quiet Place - was shot for Vogue by renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz.
In the images, she embodies the character of Mary Poppins, but with an almost couture twist.
The movie is scheduled for release on December 19th.