You'd think being offered a leading role in one of these Disney live-action remakes/nostalgic revivals would be a dream job.

The House of Mouse will throw so much money into the hype machine that it's impossible to fail, and people will be so wrapped up in the magic that they won't notice an unspectacular performance or hugely auto-tuned vocals.

But it turns out that, in Emily Blunt's case, being cast in Mary Poppins Returns was actually a terrifying prospect.

Disney

Speaking to the Daily Mail's Weekend Magazine, the actress said: "When Rob Marshall called me about this role he left a cryptic message, So I called him back and when he uttered the name Mary Poppins, I thought, 'Wow.'

"I was filled with a mixture of two emotions – I was obviously very excited, but I was also frozen with fear because, well, Mary herself is so iconic, and Julie Andrews is so iconic, too."

Explaining that her version of the character will be closer to PL Travers' book, Blunt added: "All I could do was try to see Julie's version as just sort of white noise and try to find my own version of Mary.

"And what a gift of a character she is!

Silver Screen Collection Getty Images

Related: Emily Blunt thoughts she was "going to die" filming Mary Poppins flying scenes

"In the books she's quite batty! She's eccentric and very vain and not warm and fuzzy at all. But she's also magical, with an incredibly warm core and she has a master plan for the children and ultimately brings great joy to them.

"I must say it's a joy to play somebody who knows so confidently that she is better than everybody else!"

Mary Poppins Returns will also star Ben Whishaw, Colin Firth and a returning Dick Van Dyke. The film will arrive in UK cinemas on December 21 and hits the US on Christmas Day (December 25).

Want up-to-the-minute entertainment news and features? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Facebook page and 'Follow' on our@digitalspy Twitter account and you're all set.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io