Julie Andrews Was Confused That DC Wanted Her In Aquaman

Julie Andrews has played almost every part imaginable over the course of her legendary career. One recent role probably surprised a lot of movie-goers though. During the Watch What Happens L!VE with Andy Cohen After Show, the star actress said that she was completely caught off-guard by a request from DC to do Aquaman. She says she told the company that she “couldn’t possibly do it.” It must have been quite a shock for Andrews to even consider doing a comic book movie at this stage in her career. But, as she said on Cohen’s show, she absolutely loved her experience working in the DC Comics film. Her stint as a giant sea monster is very easy to miss as her voice is regal but undeniably sinister in those moments onscreen.

James Wan’s film definitely hid a lot of these sorts of surprises on the road to impressing a lot of fans during the film’s theatrical release. At the time he called Karathen, Andrews’ character in Aquaman, the most powerful creature on Earth. He kept things vague on purpose as some context would give away the game a little bit. The giant undersea creature ends up being a pretty huge part of Arthur’s journey in the film. Still, in a film full of undersea nightmare fuel, Karathen presents a very powerful image of subnautical terror.

“I didn’t set out to make a horror movie,” Wan told reporters during a visit to the film’s set. “That’s not what this is about. It just so happens that you’re dealing in a world that is beautiful, magical, but at the same time, you know, scary as well. People are terrified of the ocean because they don’t know what’s down there. There’s all these creatures that live down in the ocean that are dangerous to humans.”

Some fans don’t even realize that Andrews is present until a few viewings. But, it always ends up being a pleasant surprise whenever people stumble upon it online. Surprisingly, the casting came about without too much back and forth.

“We wanted the Karathen to have the voice of a classic British actress, albeit somewhat digitally altered,” Aquaman producer Peter Safran previously explained when the casting was announced. “And when we found out Julie was interested and available and excited to do it, casting her was a no-brainer.”

Joker is now in theaters. Upcoming DC Movies include Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) on February 7, 2020, Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5, 2020, The Batman on June 25, 2021, The Suicide Squad on August 6, 2021, and Aquaman 2 on December 16, 2022.