Emily Mortimer Gushes About Emily Blunt’s Mary Poppins: ‘She’s Confusingly Sexy’

Move over, Julie Andrews. Emily Blunt is not your mama’s Mary Poppins. Just ask Emily Mortimer, her co-star in the 2018 sequel, who gave us a preview into the star’s sexy performance.

Emily Blunt has put a new spin on the role of one of our most beloved children’s characters. That’s according to her Mary Poppins Returns co-star Emily Mortimer who gushed to HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY about the new movie, which hits the big screen on Christmas Day. Speaking to us at Variety’s Power of Women luncheon on April 13, Emily gave us a sneak peek into her fellow Emily’s “confusingly sexy” performance. Comparing the new Mary Poppins to Julie Andrews, who starred in the 1964 Disney classic, she said, “Emily’s Mary Poppins is a little more strict like she was in the books. And I think kids love that. I think they long for a bit of punishment – strict punishment guaranteed with Mary Poppins.”

In fact, Mortimer, 46, thinks kids “like boundaries” and she guarantees they will get that with this film. She said, “And Emily’s Poppins has boundaries. And she’s also really sort of sexy. Confusingly sexy in the role I think. She’s got a real sort of swagger.” Mortimer was on hand at Variety’s event to give an award to Blunt, 35, who was being honored for her work with the Malala Fund, the charity started by Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai.

Speaking about presenting Blunt with the award, Mortimer said that she “fell madly in love with Emily” during the six-month long shoot, which took place in London in 2017. Mortimer added, “I’m devoted to her. I was already a big fan of her work as an actress. She’s one of the great talents around but she’s just also one of the sweetest, best people that I know. So I couldn’t be more thrilled to be here today to present her with this award…”

And for those hardcore Poppins fans wondering if the sequel is actually any good, fear not, Mortimer said it is – although she may be just a tad biased, of course! The story has moved on with Mortimer playing a grown-up version of the little girl from the original movie, Jane Banks. She said, “I saw a little of it and it just lives up to every expectation you could have had. It was in the best hands with [director] Rob Marshall who was the perfect puppet master for the revival of Mary Poppins.”