Mary Poppins Returns' Emily Blunt has explained why Julie Andrews turned down the opportunity to make a cameo in the film.
Speaking to Variety, Blunt said: "She [Andrews] was very hands-off with the whole thing.
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"There was discussion about, you know, that maybe she would come and do a bit in the movie and she was so generous actually."
Blunt explained how Andrews didn't want to take anything away from her rendition of the character by suddenly appearing.
"She said to Rob [Marshall, the director], 'Do you know what this is? This is Emily's version of her and I don't want it to be that she's playing Mary Poppins the whole way through, but then I come in and there's like 'Oh, but there's the real Mary Poppins' you know?'"
However, the film's producer Marc Platt has revealed that Andrews was never supposed to be part of the film, anyway.
"She wasn't supposed to be in it at all," Platt insisted. "But she's a friend of Rob's and a friend of ours and a big fan of Emily Blunt and has been lovely since day one about how this is Emily's turn and how happy she is for her…And it's Emily's turn.
"It's a different story and a different time. There will only be one Julie Andrews and after people see this film they'll be able to say with equal joy that there's only one Emily Blunt."
And according to co-star Lin-Manuel Miranda, the film has been designed to make people deliriously happy.
Mary Poppins Returns floats into cinemas on December 19 in the US and on December 21 in the UK.
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