Julie Andrews boasts a film career full of iconic roles, including the titular character in Disney’s Mary Poppins and Maria Von Trapp in the movie musical The Sound of Music . As it turns out, the 84-year-old was almost able to add another award-winning film to her resume that she ultimately had to turn down, and her reasoning for being unable to star in the hit movie may be surprising to some.
According to People , Andrews was a recent guest on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen as a part of her press tour to promote her new book, Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years , the follow-up to her 2008 autobiography, Home: A Memoir Of My Early Years.
During her appearance on the late night show, the star revealed that she was offered the role of Aunt Emma in Martin Scorsese’s Wolf of Wall Street , but was too “stoned” to be able to accept the part due to prescription drugs after having surgery.
“I wasn’t able to do the movie. I had an operation. I’m a bionic woman and I have a titanium ankle,” she explained. “I was so truly stoned from all the drugs that I had to take to take the pain away. Really, it was mostly the anesthetics.”
Andrews continued, admitting that she did “regret” having to turn down the role, but “just wasn’t ready” to get back to work when it was offered to her, though she “wanted to be.”
In the hit 2013 film, Aunt Emma was a key player in helping Leonardo DiCaprio’s Jordan Belfort hide some of his money overseas, and was ultimately portrayed by Joanna Lumley.
Although Wolf of Wall Street did not become a credit in Andrews’ illustrious film career, she may soon be reprising another one of her most popular characters, as a third installment of The Princess Diaries franchise may be in the works.
Rumors began swirling about a third Princess Diaries film earlier this year, when Anne Hathaway — who starred as Mia Thermopolis in the first two movies — confirmed during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live in January that a script had already been completed .
Andrews — who took on the role of Queen of Genovia Clarisse Renaldi in the first two installments of the series — admitted during her stint on the late night program last week that she hadn’t been told of a finished script. However, she did say that “there’s been talk about [a third movie] for quite a while.”
“If it happens, it would be lovely, and if it doesn’t, I wouldn’t have known about it, so there you go,” she joked.