Why Emma Thompson Almost Didn’t Accept P. L. Travers’ Role in Rescuing Mr.

Saving Mr. Banks it could easily have happened without Emma Thompson, despite how vital she ended up being to the film. The biopic starring Tom Hanks tells the story of Walt Disney and the difficulties he encountered when acquiring the rights to Mary Poppins from its author, PL Travers, played in the film by Emma Thompson. IUltimately, it became one of Emma Thompson’s best Disney-related roles.

Saving Mr. Banks it was a very suitable project for Disney, as it largely reflects the image of the founder. However, integrating the tense dynamic between Disney and Travers with the studio’s ethos presented a delicate challenge, as the film ran the risk of falling into self-promotion or tarnishing the brand’s reputation. Since Saving Mr. Banks released 11 years ago, it is public knowledge that the author of Mary Poppins hated the Disney film. Travers objected to the film’s live-action animation and musical sequences, making excessive complaints to executives that these features detracted from the bigger picture of why Poppins came to save the Banks family.

Emma Thomspon came very close to rejecting the role of saving Mr Banks from PL Travers

Emma Thompson’s research led her to initially dislike her protagonist

The role of PL Travers was a huge challenge for Thompson, who spoke publicly (via Irish Independent) about his reluctance to accept the role. Up to this point, the actress had not portrayed such a difficult or contradictory figure. The film emphasizes Travers’ stubborn beliefs regarding the film rights to the Disney film based on the Mary Poppins books, as well as her intense demands throughout the process. The 90s Oscar-winning actress prepared for her role in Saving Mr. Banks listening to the collection of audio recordings of meetings between the author and Disney executives.

Thompson argued with the Irish Independent, “it’s very difficult to listen to these tapes, because PL is so horrible and irritating,” and the struggle to overcome this adversity almost put Thompson’s role in jeopardy. In fact, the actress only connected with the role when she recognized the similarity between herself and the author. As a screenwriter, Thompson recognizes Travers’ reluctance over the film rights to his beloved characters. She admits that while “listening [the audios] makes you want to throw something heavy at it […]I’m quite cruel if they don’t come the way I want. She had a difficult journey to make,” (via Irish Independent).

Emma Thompson was an excellent choice for PL Travers

Thompson had more similarities to Travers than she initially thought

Thompson described himself as “bossy,” (through Variety) and this in itself is a main feature in portraying Travers. Saving Mr. Banks deftly highlights the importance of this feature in advancing the plot and to affirm the struggle that Disney faced on his journey to bring Mary Poppins for life. The remaining artifacts in the Disney vault have become priceless to Thompson and his detailed portrayal of this difficult character, as “you can tell a lot about a person’s state of mind through the way they use their voice,” (through Variety). This vocal disapproval was crucial to Thompson’s performance and emphasized much of his opposition to the studio.

It was Thompson’s research that led her to the notion that the author’s vocal register was a weapon in these negotiations, claiming Variety that “It was all she had,“as a means of control. Thompson’s extensive research into Travers was incredibly beneficial to his performance in Saving Mr. Banksas Thompson’s raw performance was fueled by his understanding of the author’s motives and convictions. It is by embracing not only her strengths, but also acknowledging her flaws, that Thompson successfully draws attention to Travers’ internal conflicts over handing over the rights to Mary Poppins to Disney.

Source: The Irish Independent, Variety