Mary Poppins will be swooping down to Palm Springs to collect an honor. Emily Blunt is set to receive Palm Springs International Film Festival’s (PSIFF) Creative Impact in Acting Award, Variety confirms. Charlize Theron is among those who have previously been recognized with the honor.
Blunt is up for a SAG award and a Golden Globe for “Mary Poppins Returns,” which sees her taking on Julie Andrews’ iconic role of a nanny with magical powers. Set decades after Mary’s first visit to the Banks family, the sequel centers on her efforts to support Michael and Jane, who are now adults, through a difficult time.
“Mary Poppins Returns” hit U.S. theaters December 19 and has taken in over $174 million worldwide so far. It marks Blunt’s second film to cross the $100 million benchmark at the box office this year. Horror pic “A Quiet Place” took in a whopping $340 million across the globe on a budget of $17 million.
“Emily Blunt has proven to be a versatile and commanding actress who can cross genres easily and with great success,” said Claudia Eller, Variety co-editor-in-chief.
“Poppins” marks Blunt’s sixth Golden Globe nomination. She won for TV movie “Gideon’s Daughter” and received nods for “Into the Woods,” “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen,” “The Young Victoria,” and “The Devil Wears Prada.”
“I took it on as my personal responsibility to make sure that I don’t feel shortchanged or less than. . . . Especially in this new climate, I think that it’s OK to reclaim the words ‘making an aggressive deal’ as a positive,” Blunt recently said of the wage gap. “Usually people are making so much money off your back that it comes down to a sort of justice thing for me. I make it a point to not be too concerned with ‘I hope they think I’m a team player.’ The people who are calling and making the deals are business affairs. It’s not the producer. It’s people who are billed to fuck you up. To shortchange you. . . . In a way, because we are inundated with those types of stories now, it has created a much safer climate to ask for what you want.”
Blunt will receive her honor from PSIFF at a brunch held January 4. The fest kicks off tomorrow, January 3, and runs until the 14. Olivia Colman (“The Favourite”), Regina King (“If Beale Street Could Talk”), and Glenn Close (“The Wife”) are among PSIFF’s other honorees this year.
