He might be 92 but that doesn’t mean Dick Van Dyke will be slowing down anytime soon and the acting veteran stole the limelight this week at the LA premiere of the new Mary Poppins movie.
Van Dyke, who starred alongside Julie Andrews in the original 1964 movie, treated fans to a little dance number as he posed on the red carpet outside of the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on Thursday, proving once again that age is just a number.
The acting superstar attended the premiere with his wife of almost seven years Arlene Silver, 47, and also posed for photos with a number of his co-stars from the upcoming movie Mary Poppins Returns, including leading lady Emily Blunt who has taken over the role of the flying nanny from Andrews.
Van Dyke plays as Mr. Dawes Jr. in the upcoming film, the son of the banker he played in the first film and, no doubt to the delight of his fans, the beloved Chitty Chitty Bang Bang star is also expected to sing and dance in the sequel.
Blunt, 35, looked delighted as she posed alongside her co-star on the red carpet, having recently described the honour of working alongside the beloved actor as “terribly moving”.
“Yes, he’s 92 years old, but the eyes and the smile are seared into your memory. It was terribly moving having him there,” she told Harper’s Bazaar.
“Obviously he’d be exhausted by the end of the day, but between takes he’d put his hand on my arm and sing: ‘It’s a jolly holiday with Mary’.”
Last month fans were sent into a frenzy thanks to the release of a new trailer for the impending release, which showed Blunt in character as the loveable nanny who returns to the iconic house on Cherry Tree Lane in London.
The new movie is set in the 1930s and Michael and Jane Banks are all grown up. There’s a new generation of kids living in the house, with Michael’s son Georgie excitedly bursting through the front door with news for his father and Aunt Jane. He’s got a big brother called John and a sister named Annabel.
Based on the beloved book series by P. L. Travers, the film has inspired generations and has even been turned into a hit Broadway musical.
Mary Poppins Returns will be released in cinemas across Australia on New Year’s Day 2019.