Julie Andrews on new Mary Poppins movie, casting of Emily Blunt
The new film stars Emily Blunt as the iconic character.
-- Julie Andrews is known and adored around the world for her incredible singing voice and for the now iconic characters she’s portrayed in films such as "Mary Poppins" and "The Sound of Music." Who among us hasn’t belted our own version of “The Hills are Alive” at one time or another? So just what is it that makes adults and children go giddy with her every move?
"The secret is that I’m an unbelievably lucky human being," Andrews told ABC News, "because I was the lucky girl that was asked to be in those wonderfully iconic films."
Andrews stopped by the "Popcorn With Peter Travers" studio to promote her new Netflix show, "Julie's Greenroom."
“'Julie’s Greenroom' is something I’ve long wanted to do. It’s a show about the arts for children. There is something for everybody. But mostly about conveying and teaching the joy of the arts to children,” she said. “I play Miss Julie who runs a small theater and my students are puppets. And they are the wonderful Henson puppets made by the studio.”
Andrews created the series with her daughter Emma Walton, who told Travers the project is very special to them.
“Both mom and I are longtime, passionate arts advocates,” Walton said. “I actually co-founded and ran a small professional theater in eastern Long Island for 17 years. And while I was there I was running the education programs and teaching arts to kids, basically being the character she (Julie Andrews) plays on this show.”
During the interview, Andrews also spoke about the new "Mary Poppins" movie, which stars Emily Blunt as the acerbic nanny.
Andrews, who won an Oscar in 1965 for playing Mary Poppins, said the new film, "Mary Poppins Returns," isn't a remake.
"Disney had so many of the Mary Poppins books in their stockpile, in the basement, in the vault. So they thought, 'Why don't we also do a second musical using all of that material?'" she said. "It's not a re-creation of the original film. It's a brand new film."
Andrews, 81, said she has a lot of faith in Blunt.
"I think she'll be practically perfect," Andrews said.
She also spoke about the possibility of a film remake or retelling of "The Sound of Music," another classic that earned Andrews an Oscar nod.
"'Sound of Music' was iconic, and I'm thrilled it stood up to the test of time, but it was something like 50 years ago. So I think it's about time somebody had a crack at it again," she said.
Be sure to watch Peter Travers’ full interview with Julie Andrews and Emma Walton in the video above.