Angela Lansbury has joined the cast of Disney’s “Mary Poppins Returns,” starring Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Meryl Streep.
It is directed and produced by Rob Marshall and will be set in the 1930’s Depression-era London. Michael and Jane are now grown up. Michael (Ben Whishaw) lives with his three children and their housekeeper, but when he suffers a personal loss, enigmatic Nanny Mary Poppins (Blunt) re-enters their lives.
The film is produced by Marshall, John DeLuca (“Chicago”) and Marc Platt (“La La Land”). The screenplay is by David Magee (“Life of Pi”) based on the “Mary Poppins” stories by P.L. Travers with Marc Shaiman (“Hairspray”) and Scott Wittman (“Hairspray”) writing all new songs and Shaiman composing an original score.
In December, Dick Van Dyke said he would be part of the upcoming movie, teasing he would be “going to London in the spring to do my role, and I get to do a little song and dance number.” He also added that Lansbury would be making an appearance in the film.
Lansbury is a five-time Tony Award winner and the recipient of an honorary Academy Award, three Academy Award nominations and various other accolades. Her career, spanning over 70 years, has included roles in films like “Beauty and the Beast,” “Gaslight,” “The Picture of Dorian Gray” and the TV series, “Murder: She Wrote.”
“Mary Poppins Returns” is set for release on Dec. 25, 2018.
Lansbury is represented by Zero Gravity Management and Myman Greenspan Fineman Fox Rosenberg Light.