When it was announced that Carrie Underwood would be playing the role of Maria Von Trapp in an TV adaptation of the beloved musical "The Sound of Music," many Julie Andrews fans did not take the news well, launching online attacks against the country superstar.
"I get hate tweets and stuff like, 'You're not Julie Andrews!' I know I'm not Julie. Nobody is and I would never pretend that I was. I know my place," Underwood said to Entertainment Weekly, the small-town star adding that she's a huge fan of her character, whom she feels a connection to. "She had this love for nature and this love for the things that God made, this beautiful, the mountains, the music. And I feel that."
Julie Andrews, now 78, recently defended the decision to cast Underwood, insisting, "Fifty years later, it's time somebody had another crack at it."
"I had the best time of my life doing it, and it did wonderful things for me. I think it's great that it's being done again, but doing it live must be so daunting for Carrie," Andrews told Zap2it. "I know they're not doing the movie, though. They're doing the Broadway show - that's what they have the rights to - and I don't know whether it will resonate similarly. In the movie, we cut some things from the stage version and added some songs."
"The Sound of Music Live!" will air on NBC in December and also stars Stephen Moyer ("True Blood") and Audra McDonald ("Private Practice"), and Underwood is set to perform a snippet of the show during the Macy's Thanskgiving Day Parade in New York City.
Click here to see photos of Carrie Underwood rehearsing with her "Sound of Music Live!" cast members for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
