12 Most Insane Things Happening In Movies & TV Right Now (Nov 23rd)

11. Dick Van Dyke Paid Disney To Cast Him Twice

With the Mary Poppins sequel heading into cinemas in December and definitely aiming to be the best film of the year (sorry Thanos), original star Dick Van Dyke has revealed he had to go to extraordinary measures to convince Walt Disney to let him have two roles in the film.

Van Dyke famously played Bert the chimney sweep and also ancient chairman of the bank, Mr. Dawes Sr. In an interview he told Lin Manuel Miranda for The Hollywood Reporter that he said he'd work for free:

"I said, 'I’ll do it for nothing.' Actually, I had to give him $4,000 dollars. I had to pay him to do the part."

Disney apparently wouldn't budge on casting him, even when Van Dyke was asking for the role, so he got a bit of a sweetener from the actor. And to be fair to the actor, he says he'd do it again. Usually paying for roles usually comes afterwards, when the critical response kills your career.