Entertainment Movies Emily Blunt Says Flying as Mary Poppins Was 'Totally Terrifying': 'I'm Very Bad with Heights' The actress found out she was afraid of heights while filming Mary Poppins Returns By Christina Butan Christina Butan Instagram Christina Butan has been working in media since she graduated SUNY Purchase in 2017 with a bachelor's degree in journalism and the Peter Keller Journalism Prize. She started out as an editorial assistant and news writer for PEOPLE, and then joined the Dotdash Meredith commerce team as an Amazon writer in 2019. She quickly became well-versed in commerce content and worked her way up to becoming a Senior Commerce Writer and Strategist for InStyle, where she pitches, writes, assigns, and edits stories covering celebrity style, beauty trends, editor's picks, and more. People Editorial Guidelines Published on December 17, 2018 11:54 AM Share Tweet Pin Email Turns out even magical nannies are afraid of heights. In PEOPLE’s The Practically Perfect Guide to Mary Poppins special edition, Mary Poppins Returns star Emily Blunt reveals that flying around on set didn’t go as smoothly as she thought it would. “It was totally terrifying,” the actress tells PEOPLE of her aerial entrance scene. “I thought I was alright with heights, and then as I kept going higher I was like, ‘I don’t think I’m alright with heights! I actually think I’m very bad with heights!'” Dick Van Dyke, 93, ‘Amazed’ Himself with His Mary Poppins Returns Dance Number The actress plays the nanny in the upcoming film, which stars Lin-Manuel Miranda, Meryl Streep, Colin Firth, Dick Van Dyke, Angela Lansbury plus many more, and serves as a sequel to the 1964 Disney original. Emily Blunt in Mary Poppins Returns. Jay Maidment/Disney While being lifted into the air with a harness and wire was scary for Blunt (“All I remember is looking down and seeing Miranda was like, that big,” she recalls), it was also an emotional experience. “You know you’re doing something special when everybody feels it, from the lighting guys, the grips, the catering guy,” she says. “One of the camera grips came up to me and he goes, ‘That was really emotional watching you come down like that.’ It was really sweet.” Mary Poppins Returns opens Dec. 19. Go inside Mary Poppins Returns with People’s The Practically Perfect Guide to Mary Poppins special edition, including exclusive photos and interviews with Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Meryl Streep & many more, available on Amazon and on stands now