Exclusive: Julie Andrews Is ‘Nervous’ to See Her Documentary but Hopes It’ll Serve as Her Third Memoir
Looking back on her life and career, ‘I would have told myself to be a little easier,’ Andrews tells BroadwayWorld. ‘Just let things happen because they will.’
While it appears Julie Andrews no longer has plans to perform on screen, that certainly doesn’t mean she isn’t busy.
The film and theater legend, 90, is celebrating the recent release of her latest children’s book, Shy, which she co-authored with her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton — and the duo are preparing for the upcoming documentary about her life and illustrious career coming to Disney+ next year.
Still, Andrews exclusively tells BroadwayWorld, “I’m nervous to see it.”
While both Andrews and Hamilton, 63, have been involved in the process, neither have seen a cut of the film from director-producer R.J. Cutler just yet.
“It is ultimately the documentarian’s piece,” says Andrews. “I felt that at this time in my life, it seems an appropriate time to try and do something like this to kind of tidy up the leftover bits and pieces. But, truthfully, as to what he’s actually used, I will find out!”
Hamilton, who helped provide archival footage for the documentary and was also involved in the process, adds, “One of the things that I know very well about Mom is that she never wants to seem self-congratulatory in any way — or self-pitying. I think that’s what she’s nervous about.”
Andrews has authored dozens of books with her daughter — as well as a two-part memoir, Home and Home Work — and she hoped to release a third edition that looks back on her life. However, she says she never got around to doing so. The upcoming doc, she hopes, will tie things up nicely.
“In a way, the documentary I hope will complete the third episode of my biography,” Andrews tells BroadwayWorld. “There was one to come, and I put it on hold because we were busy and writing and God knows what. I’m hoping that this documentary might complete that cycle.”
At the time Andrews planned to collaborate with her daughter on a third book, “it just wasn’t convenient, and it wasn’t a very happy [time] at that point,” she says.
Hamilton adds, “At this stage in her life, she deserves to focus on things that bring her joy.”
One thing that creatively fulfills Andrews these days is getting to work alongside her daughter. Their children’s book Shy, about a shy puppy who discovers music — inspired by Andrews’ real-life singing dog — hit shelves earlier this week.
Like its main character, Andrews and Hamilton relate to the process of having to find your own voice and figure out your place in the world. Andrews says that she’s still navigating life at 90.
When she began her career, “I never expected that anything that I was doing would last really, but it helped the family financially,” the Oscar winner explains. “So from the age of about 12 years old, I was involved in vaudeville and music hall and traveling and singing lessons.”
Both mother and daughter say figuring out oneself is a “recurring theme” in their lives, with Andrews explaining that at different points she thought about being a “botanist, and sometimes I wanted to just be a florist and sometimes something else.”
Looking back at her expansive career — which included playing iconic roles in Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady and more — Andrews says she thinks of “the good fortune and the kind of miracle that unfolded as I went along.”
“I was very fortunate,” she says. “I was ready to work very hard because for some reason my parents installed a work ethic [in me], and I was helping to keep the family going and contributing.”
What brings Andrews joy is her “family, first and foremost,” she says, adding that she makes time for the little things in life like her garden, her pets and, of course, music.
If there was one piece of advice she would give her younger self, “I would have told myself to be a little easier and just take it a day at a time,” Andrews says. “Try not to anticipate quite so much.”
“Just let things happen because they will,” she assures. “Worry less, and enjoy more.”
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Abrams Books
