Mary Poppins Returns--Ben In Talks to Play Adult Michael
As of today (August 15, 2016), rumor is that Ben will play the adult Michael Banks. If he takes on the role, he will co-star with Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Meryl Streep (the latter is still "in talks"). I find this particularly exciting!
The Vanity Fair piece out today is here: http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/08/mary-poppins-ben-whishaw-michael-banks
An interesting side-note: in 2014, Ben did an interview with the Chinese press and had this to say:
As long as I can remember, I was always like dressing up as characters and putting on plays and then you do them at school and you do them in the village or the community centre. And then I joined the youth theatre. It's just like one thing led to another but I was always doing it. Well, I think I played all the characters from Mary Poppins, that's my favourite film.
[From this article: http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzA5MzM5NTY4Mw==&mid=401872290&idx=1&sn=c655a44115a928220cea2d354113d270]
If he's already a fan, I think that's promising!
And I'd love to see and hear him singing a bit more than he has here and there, in various other roles.
"I always have a wonderful time, wherever I am, whomever I'm with."