Mary Poppins sequel filming interrupted by hen party on a beer bike as Emily Blunt takes over from Julie Andrews
THERE may be no problem Mary Poppins can’t solve without a click of the fingers or a spoon full of sugar.
However a rowdy hen party may have been too much for the Edwardian nanny to cope with as filming of the upcoming Walt Disney sequel was interrupted on Saturday.
Streets around Bank in London were shut down and filled with vintage busses and cars as filming of Mary Poppins Returns took place in the capital.
And while the old motors trundled around the Bank of England on Saturday, one very modern vehicle had to be escorted through the set while filming was interrupted.
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A group of ladies on a beer bike ventured through the location as one of the party celebrated her upcoming nuptials.
The group were met by a police officer wearing a high-vis jacket as they passed where the cast and crew were filming the sequel.
Mary Poppins Returns is set 25 years after the 1964 original.
Emily Blunt has been cast as the super nanny – while the children she looked after in the classic musical film will feature as grown ups.
Emily Mortimer and Ben Whishaw have been cast as the adult versions of Jane and Michael Banks respectively.
Meanwhile Hamilton creator and perfomer Lin-Manuel Miranda has been cast as Mary’s side-kick, Jack.
Julie Walters, Meryl Streep, Colin Firth and Angela Lansbury have all been added to the all-star cast.
And original Bert the chimney-sweep actor Dick Van Dyke has been cast in the role of Mr. Dawes Jr.
The 91-year-old star revealed last December that he hadn’t realised his cockney accent in the 1964 original was so terrible – having since gone down in history as one of the worst British accents on screen.
The American star didn’t explain until 2016 exactly why his accent was so bad, however, revealing: “Someone should have told me I needed to work on my cockney accent.
“I was given an Irish coach whose Cockney was much better than mine.”
The star, who has five Emmys, a Tony, a Grammy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award to his name, complained that not even the movie’s star Julie Andrews had told him his accent needed work.
He said: “Nearly everyone in the Mary Poppins cast was a Brit but no one said anything.”
“Years later I asked Julie Andrews ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ - she said it was because I was working so hard.”
It is unclear if Julie Andrews – who bagged the Oscar for Best Actress with her turn as Mary in the original film – will appear as either a new character or cameo.
However the star is apparently in approval of Emily Blunt replacing her on the big screen.
Emily revealed to EW last year that director Rob Marshall had already spoken to Julie about the recasting.
"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 explained.
"I felt like I wanted to cry. It was lovely to get her stamp of approval. That took the edge off it, for sure,” the British actress said.
Mary Poppins Returns is expected to arrive in cinemas in December 2018.
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