Dick Van Dyke: ‘I won’t be starring in Mary Poppins sequel’

Dick Van Dyke isn’t holding out much hope for the Mary Poppins remake, boldly suggesting sequels are never as good as the original.
The 90-year-old actor revealed he isn’t keen on a role in Disney’s Mary Poppins Returns, the upcoming revival of the 1964 iconic movie which sees Emily Blunt taking on the role of the magical singing nanny originally played by Julie Andrews.
“I’d have to see the script,” he told Britain’s Daily Mirror newspaper on Wednesday (24Aug16). “Without Walt Disney, and the Sherman brothers to write the score, and Julie, it will be difficult, I think.”
“Sequels are traditionally not as good as the first. But I wish them well,” he added diplomatically.
Recalling his time playing Bert the chimney sweep in the Oscar-winning movie, he said, “Every day we came to work and we knew there was something magical going on. There was such a spirit. Walt (Disney) was always there as a morale builder. We both said we were children looking for our inner adult.”
The veteran actor is gently mocked for the Cockney accent he had in the musical, and he confesses his voice coach for the part wasn’t even English.
“They only sent a coach to me once for that accent. And he was an Irishman – his Cockney accent was not much better than mine,” Dick laughed.
He became a household name in the 1960s thanks to his TV show The Dick Van Dyke Show, and his roles in Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He later went on to star in his own hospital detective drama series Diagnosis Murder, as well as landing parts in recent movies such Night at the Museum.
While he may be in his ninth decade, Dick isn’t planning on slowing down anytime soon. “I’m trying to get someone to let me do Death of a Salesman,” he smiled. “And I’ve always wanted to do a bit of Shakespeare.”
And, despite having a positive outlook on life, there is one person who makes his blood boil – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. “He is scaring me to death. Why don’t people see through him? He has a following of millions of people. He reminds me of Mussolini back in the 1940s. The other day he said, ‘I am the only one who can save you.’ That’s the line of a dictator or a tyrant.
“He really has got me so scared… I don’t think he’s fit to be a leader of anything, really,” he added.
Mary Poppins Returns is slated for release in 2018.