The scene from Mary Poppins that almost killed Julie Andrews
Mary Poppins is one of the most iconic and loved films of all time.
Julia Andrews recently appeared on The Late Show where she explained that during filming of the 1964 classic, she experienced a near-fatal accident.
Julia Andrews was filming the iconic umbrella scene from the movie when her harness began to give out on her.
“There was a very dangerous day right at the end of filming when I was in this excruciatingly painful harness,” Andrews told host Stephen Colbert.
“And I was hanging around up there for the longest time with the umbrella. I thought I felt the wire leave and drop about six inches. I was nervous ... and very tired.”
Andrews then communicated to the crew that she felt unsafe in her stunt wires.
“So, I called down and I said, ‘excuse me, when you do let me down, could you let me down really gently, because I felt myself slip and I just don’t feel too safe up here.’”
The crew told her that she would be lowered gently, but they were wrong.
“I plummeted to the stage,” Andrews said. “I did. And there was an awful silence for a minute and I did let fly with a few Anglo-Saxon four-letter words, I have to admit.”
Andrews revealed that all the stunts in the movie were the last scenes to be filmed.
The 80-year-old actress joked that she knew that if something happened to her she was dispensable because all the other filming they needed her for was already completed.
Relive the iconic umbrella scene above. What’s your favourite scene from the classic movie? Share in the comments below.