Julie Andrews isn't appearing in the sequel to her 1964 classic movie "Mary Poppins." But it isn't because she disapproves of the project or the actress who's stepping into her shoes, Emily Blunt. In fact, she refused to make a cameo for the exact opposite reason.

As director Rob Marshall told Entertainment Weekly, Andrews turned down an appearance in "Mary Poppins Returns" so she wouldn't overshadow Blunt.

"Julie was incredibly gracious, and we talked about it in a very general way but she made it clear right up front," he explained. "She said, 'This is Emily's show, and I really want it to be Emily's show. I don't want it to be, 'Oh, here comes that Mary Poppins.' I don't want that. I really want her to take this and run with it, because she will be brilliant.'"

Andrews sounds almost like a fangirl, from Marshall's telling.

"Julie will always be, for me and for everybody, the most astonishing performance as Mary Poppins, winning the Oscar and bursting onto the scene so brilliantly," he says. "But Emily is the perfect person to carry the torch, and I know Julie feels the exact same way. She loves her."

"Mary Poppins Returns" opens Christmas Day 2018.