ENTERTAINMENT NEWS … JULIE ANDREWS

ENTERTAINMENT NEWS …

JULIE ANDREWS

Julie Andrews is delightfully royal as the winged fairy queen in the new family film The Tooth Fairy. She joins Dwayne Johnson, who plays a hockey star forced to become a tooth fairy when he refuses to believe in the fantasy.

 
She owed it all to her parents.

"They were great about making the Tooth Fairy seem real. I passed that tradition onto my children, and now they are passing it on to my grandchildren. I think they're getting a little more money than I did. In those days it wasn't very much, about a shilling, which was less than a quarter, for each tooth."

Every fantasy has an end.

"I can't remember how I learned the Tooth Fairy didn't exist, but I know that when it came to talking to my kids about it, I created a wonderful little transition period. Their kind friends at school were telling them, 'There is no Santa Claus. There is no Tooth Fairy.' So they'd ask me and I'd say, 'I really don't know, but it's the best game to play, isn't it? Even if it's true, even if it's not true, don't we have fun with it?' So I managed to kind of coast over that for a couple of years when they weren't really sure."

How about those wings?

"I've had an umbrella before in Mary Poppins, but this is the first time I've had wings. They were huge and heavy, but very beautiful -- gorgeous to look at."

Speaking of gorgeous.

"The first glimpse I had of Dwayne Johnson as the Tooth Fairy was in his pink tutu, tights and ballet slippers, wearing this big pair of wings. Yet, somehow, he's so delicious to look at that it really didn't phase me that much. You just think, 'Oh, Dwayne, you are really beautiful.'"

Putting a rumor to rest.

"There was an erroneous announcement that I'd had restorative vocal surgery and I have not. I could never pretend that I sing as I used to. I have a few good bass notes, so I can do a great 'Ol Man River,' and I can sing-speak a little bit. I am going on a small international tour later this year, doing a beautiful concert of music that I debuted last year in America."

Remembering The Sound of Music.

"I occasionally run into it on cable around Christmas or Easter. I'll say, 'Oh, my gosh, there it is,' and I might watch a piece of it. I'm staggered at how far everybody's come in terms of special effects and digital effects and things that can be done since we filmed it. But I'm also equally staggered at how seamless Disney made it seem back then. You don't see any creakiness in terms of the effects in Mary Poppins. They're still amazing."

What her parents taught her.

"Whenever we had any kind of adversity, my mother would say, 'Oh, these things are sent to test us.' Of course, that put everything right for a moment. She gave me all the color and character and charisma in my life. And my dad was the absolute rock that gave me sanity. So between the two, I guess I got a fair bit of reinforcement."

On her list of things to do.

"Someday I'll take one of those great vacations, when I do nothing but read all the books that are piled up by my bedside. I'll never get through them all. I know I won't. But that would be a nice, nice thought, if I could just have a month to just browse and read. I never get to it, but I try."

God save the Queen.

"I have to say I'm a big royalist. I think England without royalty would be a much sadder country. Queen Elizabeth has been a good lady and she brings in so many dollars to our country. People come to see the Changing of the Guard. They come to see the palaces. I think if you're not a royalist, you're saying 'Dispense with all of that.' And England would be a sad place."

Patrick Wilson -- "The Street Where You Live"
Kristin Chenoweth -- "A Spoonful of Sugar"
Robert Goulet -- "If Ever I Would Leave You"
Audra McDonald -- "I Could Have Danced All Night"
Jeremy Irons -- "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face"
Rebecca Luker -- "The Sound of Music"