Dick Van Dyke Will Seem in ‘Mary Poppins’ Sequel
Dick Van Dyke says he will appear as part of a star cast starring Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda in Mary Poppins Returns, a sequel to the 1964 film in which he starred with Julie Andrews.
The new musical, directed by Rob Marshall, is due to hit theaters on Christmas Day 2018. Ms. Blunt will play Mary Poppins, a role Ms. Andrews played in the first film.
“This is supposed to be 20 years later and the kids are all grown up,” Van Dyke told The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s a great cast: Meryl Streep, Angela Lansbury and the guy from ‘Hamilton’,” a reference to Mr Miranda, who media reports say will play a lighter named Jack.
Mr. Van Dyke, 91, is not going to visit his character Bert, the chimney sweep with a mischievous accent, who joined Ms. Poppins, a magical nanny who flew under the power of her umbrella, and her two young protégés on a frenzy Edwardian London.
Instead, he told Entertainment Tonight that he would portray the son of a greedy banker who kept the children’s father busy. (Mr. Van Dyke also played the older banker, heavily made up.)
“Well, I have to be a part of it,” he said, adding that he would be traveling to London next spring to do the film. “I think I’ll just have the one scene and a little song and dance in it.”
Credit…Associated press
“Mary Poppins Returns,” which PL Travers’ book series uses as a plot inspiration, has drawn criticism from some fans of the original film. But Ms. Andrews, 81, who won an Academy Award for acting in the 1964 film, has reportedly given the sequel her blessing.
Appearing in “Mary Poppins Returns” may be a chance for Mr. Van Dyke to atone for the sins of his much maligned accent in the original, the sound of which is something quite hideous, many Britons have noted. He has been criticized for years for the dialect that is not entirely English and not entirely American.
“Somebody should have told me I had to work on my Cockney accent,” he told The Guardian last week. “Almost everyone in the ‘Mary Poppins’ cast was British, but nobody said anything.”
He added, “Years later, I asked Julie [Andrews]: “Why didn’t you tell me?” She said it was because I worked so hard. “
For his role, Mr. Miranda has promised to use an even more imprecise accent than Mr. Van Dyke has offered.
“I intend to represent a corner of London with my as-yet-invented accent,” he was quoted as saying in an interview with USA Today last month. “I’ll have the worst accent in English accent history – I’ll sound like I’m from another planet.”
Mr. Van Dyke’s interview with The Hollywood Reporter was part of a post titled “Creative Till You Die,” which focuses on the careers of actors working well into the 1990s and beyond.
When asked if he would ever retire, Van Dyke, who has appeared in the “Night at the Museum” films for the past decade and continues to perform with a barbershop quartet, absolutely did not say: “No, i think this is the worst! you can do. “
