Mary Poppins Returns Lin-Manuel Miranda Interview

- Hi, I'm Allison with FlickDirect, and I'm speaking with Lin-Manuel Miranda about Mary Poppins Returns. Hello, how are you? - Hi. Good, how are you? - I'm good. Please tell me your fondest memory of the original Mary Poppins. ♪ Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious ♪ (laughing) - I mean, you know, both as a kid, because that word was such a meal, - Yeah.

- And as an adult who is a lyricist now, what a gamble that is. I'm gonna make up a word, and that's gonna be the catchiest word in the history of music. It's an incredibly audacious act for songwriters to create, and they pulled it off. I mean, we all know it. - Yes, yes. As a matter of fact, I was doing a giveaway and I asked somebody in the audience to spell it.

- [Lin-Manuel] Really? - Yeah. They can't. - You know what, that's not in the books. That is a Sherman Brothers creation, which makes it all the more extraordinary. - Fantastic. I know that you are not playing the same part as Dick Van Dyke, but were you concerned at all about being compared to him? - Not really, you know, it's funny. I didn't realize how concerned everyone was until I started the press tour for Mary Poppins Returns.

Because Rob Marshall's the biggest fan of Mary Poppins. He would do anything to protect the legacy of that first film. So any concerns, or pressures, I feel like he absorbed them for us. He just had us so engrossed in the making of this new adventure that that's what we sort of put everything into. - And he is an amazing filmmaker, especially for this type of genre.

- Yeah. - Musical movie type things. - [Lin-Manuel] He's one of the best, yeah. - Yeah, what did you learn from him? - The greatest thing I learned was that the things I love best about theater also apply to film. Collaboration, you know, when you're making an original musical, which I have done, it's not just one art form. It's lots of art forms smashed together.

When you're making a movie of this complexity, it's even more art forms. Add animation to that mix. - Yes. - Add, you know, the incredible sequences to that mix. And so, he really comes from the old school theatrical principles of the best idea in the room wins, while always having his own meticulous vision. And just really, like, made me believe even more in the power of collaboration.

- Talk to me a little bit about, Covers Not the Book. What a great, great musical number. What was that like to film? - Oh, it was such a dream. I mean, from the moment we got the song from Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, we knew it was gonna be really special. And so, the first day of rehearsal for the whole movie, they handed us each a hat and cane, and we got to work.

So, to go from that first day of, like, you want us to do what, to seeing the final sequence on screen, surrounded by that menagerie of animated animals, it's a dream. - You recently got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Congratulations, by the way. - Thank you. - Is there an EGOT in your future? - I don't know. I mean, that sounds great. I am a fan of everyone who has an EGOT.

I've, Rita Moreno forever! - [Alison] Ah, love her. - But I also, I have a Pulitzer Prize, and I have a Kennedy Center Honor, so I kinda already have a thing no-one else has, and I'm very proud of that. - It's impressive, yeah. - Yeah. - Tell me how you managed to balance on a bicycle, with a ladder and a pole, going over cobblestones, while singing, 'cause that was impressive.

- Same way I got to Carnegie Hall, practice. (laughing) - Didja fall a lot? - I didn't fall a lot, but I did probably throw some apples at some unexpected passers-by. - Well, the movie was wonderful. - Thank you. - Thank you so much, I really appreciate you talking to me today. - Thanks so much, have a good day. - Thanks. (techno music)