If she only tries to copy Julie Andrews’ legendary performance, audiences will notice, and the film will suffer as a result.
As far as inspiration goes, looking to the source material as a means to guide Emily Blunt’s portrayal of Mary Poppins seems like a smart bet.
Blunt is instead crafting something new that will stand on its own — drawing inspiration from the Mary Poppins books, and a dash of Hildy Johnson from His Girl Friday, per Blunt in a recent chat with EW.
This allows her to deviate from what has already been done on the silver screen, while still crafting the character from a place that feels authentic and genuine to what she’s supposed to be.