National Post (National Edition)
A FABRIC OF OUR CHILDHOOD
Emily Mortimer discusses the seemingly never-ending appeal of Mary Poppins
For Emily Mortimer, trying to recall the first time she watched the original Mary Poppins is like trying to recall the first time she saw the sun.
“There wasn’t a moment in my life where I don’t remember it being part of the fabric of my childhood,” she says. “It was on television every Christmas. In those days there were only three channels on the television. It was either Mary Poppins or The Great Escape – they sort of alternated the two.”
Mortimer stars in Mary Poppins Returns as Jane Banks, the grown-up version of the little girl played by Karen Dotrice in the original. (For what it’s worth, it would also be something to see Mortimer in an all-female take on The Great Escape.) Fellow British Emily (Blunt) takes on the role made famous by Julie Andrews.
Mortimer says she tried not to think too much about the beloved 1964 classic. “Emily says she did that too. If you took that on in the preparation, you would sort of frighten yourself too much.”
But it was great to be able to watch it again. “It was intimidating but also kind of a gift. As an actor you’re always looking for your backstory – where you came from, who you parents were, what kind of house you would have grown up in. All those questions are answered. It’s almost part of our DNA. It’s almost like I did in some ways live that childhood, because I watched that movie so many times.”
She was also able to meet the original Jane, 63-year-old Dotrice, who no longer acts but makes a cameo in the new movie. “Feisty, funny, down-to-earth, cool lady,” Mortimer calls her. “Karen and me and the other cast, we all walked onto Cherry Tree Lane together for her to experience it for the first time, and it was so moving, seeing her just crumple. It was so great to have the endorsement of these people.”
That includes Dick Van Dyke, who turned 93 last week. He starred as Bert the chimneysweep and old Mr. Dawes in the first Mary Poppins, and does a dance number in the new one.
“The poor guy!” says Mortimer. Not at having to dance, but because many will think it’s not him. “He’s got people thinking they greenscreened him in. And Emily and Lin (Manuel Miranda) were put in charge of standing on either side and steadying him, and he was batting them off, and totally just going for it.”
She loves the idea that Mary Poppins is there for the grown Banks children just as much as for the younger generation. “You need her more as a grownup than you ever did as a child. We lose the art of thinking like a child, which is somehow a kind of medicine for life. A child’s imagination and their ability to escape in their mind – we need to keep remembering that art.
“And somebody like Dick Van Dyke, when you meet him in real life, just has that in spades. They exude childish joy and curiosity and enthusiasm and magic, and you feel like that’s why he’s 92 and he’s still tap dancing on tables.”