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Julie Andrews jokes she was 'too stoned' on painkillers to take role in 'The Wolf of Wall Street'

Actress Julie Andrews poses for photographers at the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement Award presentation at the 76th edition of the Venice Film Festival, Venice, Italy, Monday, Sept. 2, 2019. (Photo by Arthur Mola/Invision/AP)
Julie Andrews (Credit: Arthur Mola/Invision/AP)

Mary Poppins and Martin Scorsese aren't necessarily a natural fit, but nonetheless, Julie Andrews was all set to appear in the Goodfellas director's last movie The Wolf of Wall Street.

Andrews was in line to play the – albeit incongruous – role of Aunt Emma back in 2013, the well-to-do English lady who becomes complicit in Leonardo DiCaprio's tawdry financial scamming.

But she had to pull out because she was still recovering from surgery.

Read more: Billie Lourd disavows Carrie Fisher biography

“I had an operation. I'm a bionic woman. I have a titanium ankle,” she said while appearing on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.

She then joked: “I was so truly stoned from all the drugs that I had to take just to take the pain away.”

“I would've loved to do it,” she went on, adding that she 'just wasn't ready' to return to work.

Joanna Lumley ended up taking on the role instead. And got to kiss DiCaprio on screen.

The Wolf of Wall Street (Credit: Paramount Pictures)
The Wolf of Wall Street (Credit: Paramount Pictures)

Andrews also spoke about her feelings towards last year's Mary Poppins sequel, Mary Poppins Returns, in which her immortal character was taken on by Emily Blunt.

“I loved it,” she said. “The first film was made over 60 years ago. I think it's about time a second one was allowed.

“This had nothing to do with the first one. It wasn't as if they were repeating the first story. They had umpteen books in the vault... they had to make a new one.”

In January, rumours began swirling around a potential sequel to Mary Poppins Returns, though as yet Disney are still to confirm it.