It seems Julie Andrews is every bit as excited as the rest of us by the casting of Emily Blunt as Mary Poppins. Talking to EW, Blunt has revealed what the original Mary Poppins thought about her taking over that umbrella in Rob Marshall's Mary Poppins Returns, currently set for a Christmas 2018 release.

"Rob said he was in the Hamptons, and he saw [Andrews], and he said, 'It's top secret, but Emily Blunt's playing Mary Poppins'. And she went, 'Oh, wonderful!'," she recalled. "I felt like I wanted to cry. It was lovely to get her stamp of approval. That took the edge off it, for sure."

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But don't expect Blunt's magical nanny to be exactly like Andrews' 1964 version, with the actress teasing that it'll be more in line with PL Travers' original series.

"We're delving into the books a lot more, which is a different version of the character, I'll say that much," she explained, adding: "She's a little meaner, yeah."

Blunt is aware about straying too far from the character that everyone knows and loves, though: "I feel a little more trepidation with this [character] because she's so emblematic of people's nostalgia. It's such an important character in people's childhood."

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Mary Poppins Returns will also star Hamilton creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda, with Meryl Streep (of course) and James Bond star Ben Whishaw also said to be in talks to star in the film.

We might even get to see original stars Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, but the latter is not too sure about the whole thing.

For us though, Christmas 2018 can't come soon enough.

From: Digital Spy