Angela Lansbury joins Mary Poppins Returns as the Balloon Lady
The acting legend will star alongside Emily Blunt, Dick Van Dyke and Lin Manuel Miranda
Angela Lansbury will star in the new Mary Poppins movie as the Balloon Lady, a beloved character from PL Travers' original books.
Dick Van Dyke, who is returning to the world of Mary Poppins for a special cameo, previously let slip that Lansbury would be making an appearance when he told the Hollywood Reporter: “It’s a great cast – Meryl Streep, Angela Lansbury and that guy [Lin-Manuel Miranda] from Hamilton.”
But now Disney has confirmed the news, we know that the veteran actress, 91, will be the cheeky Balloon Lady who gets up to mischief in the park during one of the magical nanny's days out with Jane and Michael Banks. She appears in Travers' novel Mary Poppins Comes Back.
The movie sequel Mary Poppins Returns is set around 20 years after the 1964 original, when the kids are all grown up. Emily Blunt is replacing Dame Julie Answers in the title role.
Meryl Streep will likely play Mary's cousin Topsy, while Lin Manuel Miranda - creator of hit musical Hamilton - will play street lamp lighter Jack. Also on board are Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer, Julie Walters and Colin Firth.
The three new Banks children will be played by Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh and Joel Dawson.
Lansbury is an old hand at Disney movies, having previously voiced Mrs Potts in Beauty and the Beast, and starred in Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
Mary Poppins Returns will be released on 25th December 2018
