Julie Andrews says she was 'a bit of a child brat' before fame
Julie Andrews has picked up the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award after a two-year delay, and spoke about spending her early years doing vaudeville in London.
The Mary Poppins actress arrived at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Thursday for the American Film Institute’s delayed gala.
The event, held in honour of Julie herself, was in her words “a culmination, in a way, of wonderful events and great fortune”.
Speaking to Variety on the gala’s red carpet, 86-year-old Julie recounted a few of her early lifetime achievements.
“My early years were in in Music Hall in London and vaudeville, and I was just a bit of a child brat, I suppose, that had a big voice,” she smiled. “But the wonder was that I then was asked to go to Broadway and then to Hollywood.”
When asked if she had any advice for theatre performers looking for a career in film, Julie responded: “I’m asked that a great deal. And I always say to them that something wonderful, if you’re really dedicated and want it, is going to pass under your nose when you least expect it. So do your homework and be ready.”
The actress was joined on the red carpet by five of the child stars of her 1965 smash hit The Sound of Music.
Nicholas Hammond, who played Friedrich von Trapp, happily heaped praise on his former co-star.
"(Julie's career longevity is) not only because she is so brilliantly talented, but because everybody loves working with her. I don’t think you’ll ever get a studio person who will ever say a negative thing about her. And, you know, she’s the hardest working person on the set always," he shared.
