Dick Van Dyke Praises Julie Andrews’ Patience During ‘Mary Poppins’ Filming

Any cinematic production isn’t just one single actor’s big chance to shine; it is very much a group project that can go from amazing to awful depending on the participants’ synergy. Mary Poppins was released 60 years ago but Julie Andrews left such a strong impression on her co-star Dick Van Dyke that he still thinks of it to this day—and he’s got nothing but fond feelings towards her patient attitude throughout filming.

Van Dyke, who is gearing up to celebrate his 99th birthday this winter, has been reflecting on his career that kicked off over seven decades ago. It’s a career he’s also continuing to grow, as Van Dyke has expressed his desire to continue working as long as he can. But for how remarkable his filmography is, he is always quick with the high praise for his colleagues, and recently gave a special shoutout to Andrews, especially her calm nerves and professionalism, juxtaposed against his childish energy.

Van Dyke recently sat down for an interview with The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast. There, the topic of his career quickly transitioned into his time filming Mary Poppins, which had been spent in part marveling over Andrews—much like this week’s interview.

“It’s like she had done a whole lot of movies,” said Van Dyke. “She was as cool as a cucumber.” She also set the bar for how recordings would go for the movie’s musical numbers. Remarkably, there’s roughly a ten-year difference between Van Dyke and the almost EGOT winner, with Andrews as the younger of the two co-stars.

Even so, Van Dyke never runs out of feats to praise when it comes to Andrews. “She not only is a soprano,” he noted, “she sang just a hair on top of the note, just that little bit sharp and I sang flat. So I just—what a sweater that was. Getting through that album. Because I had to keep voice, keep voice.”

“I’m actually a bass, but I had to sing,” Van Dyke went on to share, “It turned out alright and she was so patient with me.” Van Dyke puts Andrews on a high pedestal to this day—and the sentiments are entirely mutual, as the two demonstrate a respect for each other that proved the perfect foundation for a meaningful friendship that has lasted over half a century.

Andrews, for her part, felt an instant connection with Van Dyke when the two first met. “It was a very hot early September if I recall correctly,” she recalled of that fateful first encounter, “and the Disney team had built a big stage outdoors on the backlot of the studio and created a roof for shade from a giant tarpaulin. As I arrived on that very first day, Dick was already working with the choreographers and the dancers.”

Beneath the surface, Andrews was an anxious mass of nerves. “I’d never made a movie before, and I’d given birth to my lovely daughter Emma nearly six weeks earlier, and I quickly realized that I had better pull my socks up and get in shape,” she shared, and called her first meeting with Van Dyke “daunting.”

Contributing to her intimidation was the fact that Van Dyke was “young, fit as can be, and really gorgeous to look at.” It’s a testament to their natural chemistry that even though Andrews “found it pretty daunting,” she quickly found that “Dick could not have been kinder, more genuinely sweet and helpful. I like to think that we did bond instantly.”