World renown Director Rob Marshall creates magic. There’s nothing more that needs to be said about that. In Mary Poppins Returns, we get to witness that magic once again. In this exclusive interview with Rob Marshall, we were able to see behind the thought process of this very talented being, and understand why the return of Mary Poppins means so much to him.
Building Confidence With A Cast
Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Emily Mortimer and Ben Whishaw all commented how Rob has this magic about him. He’s able to build confidence in his cast, and remind them that they are able to do anything. That the impossible is possible. We wanted to know how he manages to do this with every cast he encounters.
“When I work with actors, I find they need to feel positive reinforcement, and it’s such a simple thing to do. It’s like being a really good parent. I like to protect actors to make them feel they can do things and try things.”
The Dick Van Dyke Experience
The on-going thread within the Mary Poppins Returns cast and crew is their connection and interaction with Dick Van Dyke. We wanted to know what was going through Rob’s mind when he first interacted with Dick on set, and what it felt like to have that physical connection to the original Mary Poppins.
“He’s so joyous, it’s just sort of who he is. And he said yes so quickly. He was excited to be a part of it. When he came onto the set, he grabbed my arm as we were walking on. He said ‘I feel the same spirit here on this set that I did on the first film.” And I thought, OK that’s everything. That’s all I need to hear. That was everything for me to hear that from him.”
Turning A Bubble Bath Into Magic
One thing you will notice in Mary Poppins Returns, and in the original Mary Poppins, that everyday occurrences are transformed into magical experiences. Rob says that was one of the things he wanted to transition from the P.L. Travers books, and show as much as possible on screen.
“It’s all about taking an ordinary everyday event and turning it into something magical. An adventure that’s fun; cleaning up your room turns into an adventure in the first film, right? So, I was looking for something that kids hate, and it’s taking a bath.
…I thought that could open up to a beautiful world, and there is an underwater adventure.”
Whew. There is so much to cover in this exclusive interview with Rob Marshall! We talked even more with him, and some of the subjects are spoiler-heavy, so we will put up part two of this interview after the release of Mary Poppins Returns.
Mary Poppins Returns hits theaters December 19th, 2018!