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EXCLUSIVE: Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music star Julie Andrews is the first actor officially cast in Shondaland’s Untitled Bridgerton Project, an hourlong period series for Netflix based on Julia Quinn’s bestselling series of novels. Andrews will voice the pivotal character of Lady Whistledown in eight-episode series, slated to premiere in 2020.
Created by Scandal veteran Chris Van Dusen, the untitled Bridgerton drama is set in the sexy, lavish and competitive world of Regency London high society. From the glittering ballrooms of Mayfair to the aristocratic palaces of Park Lane and beyond, the series unveils a seductive, sumptuous world replete with intricate rules and dramatic power struggles, where no one is truly ever on steady ground. At the heart of the show is the powerful Bridgerton family. Comprised of eight close-knit siblings, this funny, witty, daring and clever group must navigate the upper ten thousand’s marriage mart in search of romance, adventure and love.
Andrews will lend her voice to Lady Whistledown. Anonymous to readers, this mysterious, sharp-tongued gossip writer uses a curious mix of social commentary and scathing insult to send the season of 1813’s ton into an all-out frenzy.
Van Dusen executive produces with Shondaland’s Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers. The Untitled Bridgerton Project is one of eight series ordered by Netflix last year as part of Rhimes’ mega-deal with the internet network.
Set between 1813 and 1827, the Bridgerton Series is a collection of eight novels, each featuring one of the eight children of the late Viscount Bridgerton: Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Daphne, Eloise, Francesca, Gregory, and Hyacinth. Lady Whistledown’s gossip columns “narrate” the first four books. Additionally, the character headlined two novellas that are part of the franchise, The Further Observations of Lady Whistledown and Lady Whistledown Strikes Back.
The casting expands Andrews’ relationship with Netflix. She co-created with her daughter Julie’s Greenroom, which recently launched on the global streaming platform.
Andrews made her feature debut in 1964’s Mary Poppins, winning an Oscar for her performance as the titular magical nanny. The following year, she earned an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Maria Von Trapp in The Sound Of Music.She received her third Academy Award nomination for her dual role in Victor/Victoria. Most recently, Andrews was the voice of Kharaten in blockbuster Aquaman.
The new book, focusing on her years in Hollywood, is a follow-up to her 2008 release, Home: A Memoir of My Early Years.
Hachette Book Group
Hachette Book Group will release Julie Andrews‘ second memoir, Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years, October 15.
READ: Julie Andrews to Receive Lifetime Achievement Honor at Venice Film Festival
The new memoir picks up where the first left off: just as Andrews was preparing to film Mary Poppins, a performance that would win her an Academy Award and propel her into being a film star and household name. Home Work will chronicle Andrews’ long screen career, which included such films as The Sound of Music, Victor/Victoria, and, more recently, The Princess Diaries.
Andrews co-wrote Home Work with her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton.
The mother-and-daughter team have previously penned more than 30 books for children, including The Very Fairy Princess and Dumpy series, The Great American Mousicle, and Little Bo.
Oscar-winning actress and singer Julie Andrews will be honored by the Venice Film Festival with its Golden Lion award for lifetime achievement.
Best known for her iconic roles in “Mary Poppins” and “The Sound of Music,” Andrews has starred in more than 40 movies, including a memorable performance as Victoria Grant and Count Victor Grezhinski in “Victor Victoria” (1982), which was directed by her late husband, Blake Edwards. He also directed Andrews in “10” (1979) and in “S.O.B.” (1981).
“This Golden Lion is the well-deserved recognition of an extraordinary career which has admirably parsed popular success with artistic ambition, without ever bowing to facile compromises,” Alberto Barbera, the Venice Film Festival’s artistic director, said in a statement.
“I am so honored to have been selected as this year’s recipient of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement,” Andrews said, thanking the festival’s parent organization, the Venice Biennale, “for this acknowledgment of my work.”
In 2010, Andrews starred as the Tooth Fairy Matriarch in Michael Lambeck’s “Tooth Fairy,” in a performance praised by Variety as “practically perfect in every way.” She has also recently played several voice roles in the “Shrek” and “Despicable Me” franchises and in recent Warner Bros. blockbuster “Aquaman.” She starred in 2001’s “The Princess Diaries” alongside Anne Hathaway, which was one of the most successful family films that year, and reprised her role as Queen Renaldi in 2004’s “The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.”
Barbera said that, during the course of her career, Andrews has gone out of her way “to avoid remaining confined” to just being an icon of family movies, accepting roles that are “diverse, dramatic, provocative and imbued with scathing irony.” As examples of her range, Barbera cited Andrews’ early role as a war widow with a penchant for falling in love with soldiers in Arthur Hiller’s anti-war romcom “The Americanization of Emily,” as well as the comedies she made with Edwards.
Born in 1935 into a musical family in England, Andrews was already a stage star, first in Britain and subsequently on Broadway – where she was nominated for Tony Awards for her roles in “Camelot” and “My Fair Lady” – before “Mary Poppins,” for which she won an Oscar. She has been a beloved stage, screen, and TV star ever since.
The 76th Venice Film Festival will run Aug. 28 to Sept. 7.
https://variety.com/2019/film/news/julie-andrews-venice-film-festival-lifetime-achievement-award-1203158233/?fbclid=IwAR2zsAW0LXRlCYcQ5-BwVtm5uHg0E2A6JKISlc-HdOnVjMp4EsSrKDCgBSU
The acknowledgement to the great English actress will be presented during the 76th Venice International Film Festival (28 August > 7 September 2019).
The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement of the 76th Venice International Film Festival has been awarded to the great English actress Julie Andrews, the star – among her many international successes – of classic movies beloved all the world over, such as Mary Poppins (1964), The Sound of Music (1965), and Victor Victoria (1982), among many others.
The decision was made by the board of the Biennale di Venezia, chaired by Paolo Baratta, which espoused the proposal made by the Director of the Festival, Alberto Barbera.
Julie Andrews, accepting the proposal, declared: “I am so honored to have been selected as this year’s recipient of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. The Venice Film Festival has long been recognized as one of the world’s most esteemed International Film Festivals. I thank La Biennale for this acknowledgement of my work and I look forward to being in that beautiful city in September for this very special occasion.”
Regarding this award, Alberto Barbera declared: “At a very young age, Ms Andrews made a name for herself in the music halls of London and, later, on Broadway thanks to her remarkable singing and acting talent. Her first Hollywood movie, Mary Poppins, gave her top-tier star status, which was later confirmed in another treasured film, The Sound of Music. Those two roles projected her into the Olympus of international stardom, making her an iconic figure adored by several generations of moviegoers. Above and beyond the different interpretations that can be given to her two most famous films (and highlighting the transgressive value of her characters rather than their apparent conservatism), it must be remembered that Andrews went out of her way to avoid remaining confined as an icon of family movies. She accepted roles that were diverse, dramatic, provocative and imbued with scathing irony. For example, The Americanization of Emily by Arthur Hiller, and the many movies directed by her husband Blake Edwards, with whom she formed a very profound and long-lasting artistic partnership, a marvelous example of human and professional devotion to a captivating esthetic project that prevailed over the commercial success of the individual movies. This Golden Lion is the well-deserved recognition of an extraordinary career which has admirably parsed popular success with artistic ambition, without ever bowing to facile compromises.”
Shared from her official Facebook site
It’s been an age since I’ve posted – I am immersed in a writing project. But today, I have to stop everything and convey…
Slået op af Julie Andrews i Torsdag den 21. juni 2018
Who doesn’t love Julie Andrews? She has delighted generations of audiences, whether singing on the London Vaudeville circuit, in the Broadway productions of My Fair Lady & Camelot, or in the Hollywood classics Mary Poppins &The Sound of Music. Younger generations also know her from The Princess Diaries, Shrek & Despicable Me. And for every decade of her remarkable 70-year career, she’s got charming, insightful stories, starting with her London debut at the age of 12 (yes we have sound of it!). She also talks about some harrowing setbacks, like the surgery that destroyed her soaring voice, and the life lessons that helped her find new ways to share her extraordinary talents with the world.
https://whatittakes.simplecast.fm/cd6bc72d
