The Cast & Crew of “Mary Poppins Returns” Share the Stories Behind the Magic

The Cast & Crew of “Mary Poppins Returns”

By Melanie Gable

Hi, everyone! I’m so excited that Erin invited me to guest write for her blog! I attended the press junket for “Mary Poppins Returns” for the purposes of this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Montage Beverly Hills was decked out in sparkling holiday decor on November 28, but the hotel became even more magical when the cast and crew of Walt Disney Studios’ “Mary Poppins Returns” held a press conference to talk about the process of making the enchanting new film.

Directed by Rob Marshall (“Into the Woods,” “Chicago”), this all-new, original musical is a sequel of sorts to Disney’s Oscar-winning “Mary Poppins,” which was released in 1964 and starred Julie Andrews in the titular role. “Mary Poppins Returns” revisits the charming setting of the first film, Cherry Tree Lane, but it is now the 1930s, and Jane and Michael Banks are adults navigating their way through “The Great Slump,” a time of economic downturn in England. Emily Blunt steps gracefully into the Poppins role, with Broadway superstar Lin-Manuel Miranda as Jack the Lamplighter, and Ben Whishaw and Emily Mortimer as grown-up siblings Michael and Jane Banks.

In the ballroom waiting area of the Montage, members of the press, bloggers, and special guests were treated to animated photo ops and a close look at some of the gorgeous costumes from the film, including several that were hand-painted by costume designer Sandy Powell. In the ballroom itself, a lovely scene was set for the film’s luminaries, with faux cherry trees adorning the stage and a bright blue backdrop featuring the movie’s title.

Producer Marc Platt served as the moderator for the conference and introduced the cast and crew in attendance:

Emily Blunt (“Mary Poppins”)
Lin-Manuel Miranda (“Jack”)
Ben Whishaw (“Michael Banks”)
Emily Mortimer (“Jane Banks”)
Director Rob Marshall
Producer John DeLuca
Composer Marc Shaiman
Lyricist Scott Wittman
Screenwriter David Magee

Platt began by asking Marshall why he chose to direct “Mary Poppins Returns.” Throughout the conference the cast and crew expressed how influential the original “Mary Poppins” had been on their respective childhoods, and Marshall was no different. “I really felt like I have that film, as many of us on this panel do, in our blood. And I wanted to be able to, in an odd way, protect the first film and treat this film with great care and love,” said Marshall. He also shared that it was “a dream” to be at helm of an all-new musical, and create it from scratch.

As for the role of Mary Poppins, Marshall gushed that there was “not another person on this planet who could have played that part” than Emily Blunt. Marshall directed Blunt in Disney’s film version of “Into the Woods,” so they have a history of collaborating on musical projects. When it came time to cast the movie, Marshall called Blunt and told her they’d been digging through the Disney archives and were returning to the company’s “most prized possession.” After keeping Blunt guessing for a bit, Marshall revealed that it was “Mary Poppins” and Blunt said, “the air changed in the room.” It was an extraordinary moment for her, and she said she instantly wanted to play the role. But her acceptance was with trepidation, because Mary Poppins is so iconic and has had such a profound impact on her life and the lives of so many others. “People hold this character so close to their hearts,” Blunt began, “And so, you know, how do I create my version of her? What will my version of her be because…no one wants to see me do a sort of cheap impersonation of Julie Andrews, because no one is Julie Andrews. And so she should be preserved and treasured in her own way of what she did.”

Blunt found inspiration for her own portrayal of Mary Poppins by turning to P.L. Travers’ books, which were “a huge springboard and enormously helpful” to her. Blunt loved the duality of the character – Poppins’ laughably quirky and off-putting characteristics, like vanity, sharpness, and occasional downright rudeness, paired with her deep empathy, altruism, and kindness. “She has to herself have such a childlike wonder in her in order to want to infuse these children’s lives with it, and there must under there be a generosity of spirit to want to fix and heal in the way that she does,” Blunt observed about the character. Marshall and Blunt talked frequently about Mary Poppins in the year and a half before they started rehearsing the movie, and they both shared the desire to capture the many nuances and layers of the character. Plus, Blunt joked, Poppins is “probably a bit of an adrenaline junkie…she loves these adventures.” Blunt described the role as “delicious,” and relished the opportunity to play such an enigmatic character.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, who plays Jack the Lamplighter in the movie, is best known as the writer and star of the smash-hit Broadway musical “Hamilton.” Truly a triple threat (or, more accurately, a quintuple threat?), Miranda is a playwright, composer, lyricist, singer/rapper, and actor with a slew of accolades under his belt, including Emmy Awards, Grammy Awards, Tony Awards, and even a Pulitzer Prize. Miranda also co-wrote the beautiful songs in Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Moana,” and even showcased his vocal skills on the film’s soundtrack. Though Miranda has appeared in multiple T.V. shows and movies, “Mary Poppins Returns” marks his first starring film role.

Miranda was approached about the movie by Rob Marshall and his partner, producer John DeLuca, while Miranda was still performing on Broadway in “Hamilton.” He had two shows that day, so Marshall and DeLuca took him out for a drink after the matinee and revealed the project: a sequel to “Mary Poppins.” Miranda said he immediately jumped in with the question, “’Who’s playing Mary Poppins?’ and they said, ‘Emily Blunt,’ and I said, ‘Oh, that’s goooood.’” Miranda expressed gratitude to Marshall and DeLuca for having the ability to envision him in the role of Jack, because there is “no childlike wonder” in Alexander Hamilton, the role for which he is best known. Where Hamilton moves at lightning speed and “wants to devour the world,” according to Miranda, Jack is “in touch with that imagination you all see in your kids.” Miranda was humbled that Marshall and DeLuca saw those qualities in him, and he happily accepted the role. Miranda said the film “came along at the perfect time for my family, too. We had finished a year of performing ‘Hamilton’ and then I chopped my hair off and left the country and jumped into Mary Poppins’ universe. It was beautiful.”

Platt asked Miranda, who acts, sings, and dances his way through the movie, about some of his favorite experiences while making “Mary Poppins Returns.” Miranda seemed overwhelmed by the wealth of incredible moments to share. “There are a lot of highs on a movie like this, and coming from the theater, where the only thing that changes in the performance is the audience and your energy

that day, to go, ‘Okay, Thursday we’ll be shutting down Buckingham Palace and riding with 500 bicyclists. And Friday you’ll be, you know, dancing with the penguins.’ You know, those kind of moments are really sort of unforgettable. But, for me, I brought my son to set every time we filmed a musical number and to watch his eyes like saucers while Daddy danced with…what seems like 500 dancers and bikers…I’ll never forget the look on his face as long as I live.”

Emily Mortimer, a seasoned, skilled actress known for her work in indie and prestige films, as well as voicing Holley Shiftwell in Disney-Pixar’s “Cars 2,” plays the (now grown up) Jane Banks. Mortimer faced numerous logistical difficulties in making the movie work with her family’s schedule, flying back-and-forth from New York City to London a total of 16 times during filming, but it was very much worth the effort to her. “When somebody inspires you and makes you excited about the idea of a movie or a project…it’s a rare thing and you just have to go with it. You just have to try to jump on that train if you can. And so I emerged from meeting Rob [Marshall] and John [DeLuca] and rung up my agents immediately and said ‘I just have to be part of this movie no matter what. I just want to be in it. I just want to help Rob tell this story.’” Mortimer described filming the movie as a “magical” experience, and confessed that it was “sort of intravenous entertainment. It was almost dangerous. It was almost too much at times.”

Mortimer was also grateful for the immediate, “sweet” bond she felt with Ben Whishaw, who plays Michael Banks in the film. “Mary Poppins Returns” begins in a troubled time in Michael’s life, when he’s dealing with the aftereffects of his wife’s passing, which include financial difficulties, trouble taking care of his children, and, of course, grief. Whishaw, a BAFTA Award-winning, Golden Globe-nominated actor, credits his performance to the “brilliantly written” script by screenwriter David Magee. “David wrote this beautiful role, so delicate and so perceptive and sort of clever to get that in there whilst also making the whole thing fantastical and magical and thrilling. Then you have a great song or two. That helps! It was very instinctive…I didn’t have to think too much about it.” Producer Marc Platt jumped in and shared that he has received “so many unsolicited e-mails and phone calls from fathers and grandfathers who are so moved at the portrayal of that character…and his ability to be honest with his children about what he can and can’t do, his emotional reality in front of his children.”

Whishaw also spoke about his sentimental attachment to the original “Mary Poppins,” confessing that he was “obsessed” with the film as a child. “I used to dress up as Mary Poppins and parade up and down the street in our village – it’s a mythic part of my childhood.” The filming process was a beautiful and emotional experience for Whishaw, who said, “You don’t expect, as an adult, to sort of be revisiting something that is such a part of your childhood. I was moved every day to be involved in that world again, you know, that I still recall so well. I mean, I can’t watch the first film without crying and it’s just a very tender kind of place in myself.”

The cast and crew also raved about meeting a couple of the beloved actors from “Mary Poppins,” including Karen Dotrice, who played the young Jane Banks when she was a child, and Dick Van Dyke, who played the endearing role of Bert and also took an extra comedic turn in old-age makeup as Mr. Dawes Senior in the film. Dotrice, who has a cameo in the movie, was reportedly stunned by the recreation of Cherry Tree Lane. Said Mortimer, “We all walked on to the set for the first time with her and she walked on to Cherry Tree Lane for the first time in 54 years, or however long it has been since the first movie was made, and she just melted. I mean she just sort of crumbled, and that was so moving being there with her while that happened and seeing that.”

Van Dyke, who plays a small, but very significant role in “Mary Poppins Returns,” left the cast and crew starstruck. Marshall shared that Van Dyke “grabbed my hand as we walked on to the set and he turned to me and he said something I will never forget. He said ‘I feel the same spirit here on this set that I did on the first film.’ And that was, you know, that was the dream come true right there.” Producer DeLuca, who was also moved while watching the veteran actor film his role, revealed that Marshall had trouble calling “cut” at the end of one of Van Dyke’s scenes because “he was crying and he couldn’t literally say the word. And just realizing that was so touching.”

Composer Marc Shaiman and lyricist Scott Wittman were given the monumental task of creating the original songs for the film, and both spoke of the experience as incredibly creatively fulfilling. Shaiman, a longtime fan of the original “Mary Poppins,” said he was in awe when he first listened to the film’s soundtrack as a four-year-old. Before he even understood the nuances of orchestration, or the meanings of phrases such as, “A man has dreams of walking with giants, to carve his niche in the edifice of time,” he was fascinated by the music and wanted to know more. “So all these things were just flowing into my brain and my ears and my heart,” said Shaiman. “So then I grew up and the dream came true where I got to incorporate every single thing that I ever learned from that album into real life and got to write songs with Scott, and then got to score the movie, which is a whole other thing outside of songwriting.” Shaiman was thrilled to score a film with such expressive, illustrious actors, gushing that “getting to work with these people and these faces and these eyes and the body language…it was just a fantasy.”

Platt then praised Wittman, complimenting his ability to not only create witty wordplay in the film’s more boisterous songs, but also lyrics that were moving and profound. Wittman, for his part, greatly enjoyed going back to the source – Travers’ novels – to find inspiration. “I think my favorite part of the whole experience was the months that Rob [Marshall], John [DeLuca], David [Magee], Marc [Shaiman] and I spent together in the books and carving out what the musical numbers were going to be, and I think that’s probably one of the most creative times I’ve had in my very long time in show business.”

Screenwriter David Magee, who also wrote the screenplays for “Finding Neverland” and “Life of Pi,” loved building the story with Marshall, DeLuca, Shaiman, and Wittman. “That was the most magical kind of collaboration time I’ve ever had, and it would be very easy to enter into a project like this feeling like you were walking on sacred ground or you could fall at any moment.” But Magee credits Marshall with creating an environment where the cast and crew supported each other and were deeply invested in the story. “I felt like we all had each other’s back, we all were protecting each other’s work and we were all telling the same story…and just listening to everyone talk has been kind of moving for me, to hear the passion that everyone has for this project; I think that’s what made this turn into the film that it was. I think we all understood what we wanted to create and it’s really magical to hear that passion…because that’s what I felt the whole time I was working on it.”

As the discussion came to a close, Platt shared that Marshall told him “Mary Poppins Returns” was his most personal film. When asked to elaborate, Marshall said he was drawn to (and tries to live by) the idea of “looking for the light” in life. “It’s in the P.L. Travers books. It’s about finding that childlike joy in life, which might sound trivial to some, but to me, it’s very profound. And I honestly was able to explore that idea in making this film. It was incredibly hard work, probably the hardest work I’ve ever had to do on a film, but at the same exact time incredibly joyous for that very reason.” DeLuca added more insight, and praised Marshall as a director, saying, “We walk on to the set, we walk into any area with the actors or the crew or any people working for him…and he just has this way of turning on this positive energy that’s all about them and it’s all about you.” DeLuca felt the stars aligned for “Mary Poppins Returns” to be made here and now. “I feel that this was not only the right time, but it’s the right time because the right man was here to share his vision with the world. I think it’s just – it’s the perfect time because Rob was here to make it.”