--- description: Lin-Manuel Miranda the creator of 'Hamilton' will star as Jack, the lamplighter in the upcoming movie 'Mary Poppins Returns'. title: Why Lin-Manuel Miranda Could Never Finish Watching 'Mary Poppins' as a Kid image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc9c5671dc2964bc3/698940b0656a3f39a4bd6267/181217101012-web1.jpg?branch=production ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Why Lin-Manuel Miranda Could Never Finish Watching _Mary Poppins_ as a Kid  by [Lucy Feldman](/author/lucy-feldman/)  ## Lucy Feldman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Editorial Director Dec 6, 2018 11:08 AM CUT  Lin-Manuel Miranda attends the 18th Annual Latin Grammy Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on November 16, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Lin-Manuel Miranda attends the 18th Annual Latin Grammy Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on November 16, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada.Mindy Small—Getty Images  by [Lucy Feldman](/author/lucy-feldman/)  ## Lucy Feldman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Editorial Director Dec 6, 2018 11:08 AM CUT _The creator of_ Hamilton _on dancing through_ Mary Poppins Returns_, raising boys and returning to the stage in Puerto Rico_ **Did you watch** **_Mary Poppins_** **as a kid?** I had the VHS cassette and loved the first two-thirds, but “Feed the Birds” would always make me too sad and then I would turn it off. **How did you step into your joyful character, Jack, a lamplighter?** My job in this film is to understand the childhood whimsy that Mary Poppins brings to every situation and to consider myself lucky to be along for the ride. I looked a lot at my own kids–my son has the most vivid imagination of anyone I’ve ever met. The other day I bought him a $5.99 fake Spider-Man phone, and it was an hour of him having fictional conversations and saving people. **Do you plan to rap in all your projects?** I don’t really think I rap in this movie. I think Dick Van Dyke’s bars in “Jolly Holiday” are way closer to contemporary hip-hop than what I’m doing. Everyone forgets he drops 16 bars about all the women he’s dated in the first movie. **Did you enjoy relocating to London for filming?** To finish the year I’d had performing in _Hamilton_, leave the country and start this weird new life with my wife and kids was really amazing. The day before we shot “Trip a Little Light Fantastic,” I brought my son to work. We rehearsed that entire eight-minute dance sequence as a continuous number, and he experienced Daddy surrounded by all those bikes and \[lamplighters\] doing that incredible dance in real time. The look on his face was one of the best moments of my life, full stop. **What has been the most surprising thing about fatherhood?** The thing that drives you craziest about your children is the thing that’s most similar to you. My son’s a picky eater–he’ll take a bite, then think for 20 minutes, while I’m sitting there steaming. I know I was just as bad. My parents laugh and laugh. **How do you think about raising boys in 2018?** The hardest job and yet the most worthwhile is to teach and model empathy to your children. **Hamilton has remained a sensation. Why does it have such staying power?** It makes you reckon with what you’re doing with your time on earth. When I read that book on Hamilton’s life, I remember thinking, I can’t believe he got all that done in such a short amount of time. In writing it, I got a little braver in stating what I want out of the world. I became a little more Hamilton and a little less Burr. **Why did you decide to reprise your role in Puerto Rico in January 2019?** I played Usnavi in _In the Heights_ in Puerto Rico, and it was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life as an actor. Then in the wake of Hurricane Maria, it became a very different thing: How can we leave the island better than we found it? We’re trying to raise $15 million for arts organizations and artists on the island, and also really prioritize residents of the island seeing it. **You’ve been outspoken about the politics surrounding Maria since it hit. Now that a year has passed, what are your thoughts?** In a weekend where everyone who had family or friends on the island was having trouble reaching them, our President was tweeting about football. I’ll never forget that. I don’t think history will ever forget that. **Would you ever write about President Trump?** You have to love what you’re writing about. Do you want to go to a musical about that? I don’t. **You’re sincere in a sarcastic world. Do you ever stoop to cynicism?** I can be as snarky and cynical as the next person. However, we get to choose what we put out into the world. I try to put out what I would like back. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5472322/lin-manuel-miranda-mary-poppins-returns/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5472322/lin-manuel-miranda-mary-poppins-returns/"},"headline":"Why Lin-Manuel Miranda Could Never Finish Watching Mary Poppins as a Kid","datePublished":"2018-12-06T11:08:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T22:12:51.521Z","description":"Lin-Manuel Miranda the creator of 'Hamilton' will star as Jack, the lamplighter in the upcoming movie 'Mary Poppins Returns'.","url":"https://time.com/5472322/lin-manuel-miranda-mary-poppins-returns/","keywords":["movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc9c5671dc2964bc3/698940b0656a3f39a4bd6267/181217101012-web1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lucy Feldman","jobTitle":"Editorial Director","url":"https://time.com/author/lucy-feldman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc9c5671dc2964bc3/698940b0656a3f39a4bd6267/181217101012-web1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"18th Annual Latin Grammy Awards - Arrivals","caption":"Lin-Manuel Miranda attends the 18th Annual Latin Grammy Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on November 16, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada.","creditText":"Mindy Small—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5472322/lin-manuel-miranda-mary-poppins-returns/","name":"Why Lin-Manuel Miranda Could Never Finish Watching Mary Poppins as a Kid"}}]}] ```