- But let's get to my first guest.
I am very excited slash really nervous.
She is a true Hollywood legend,
a children's book author and just absolutely all class.
She is a true lady.
Dame Julie Andrews, are you there?
- I am here
and you're there.
I can see that you are.
- I am.
I'm very nervous and excited.
I have one quick question
'cause I actually don't know this answer.
Do I say 'Dame' every time or -?
- No, certainly, no. (laughs)
- [Kelly] Oh, I don't know.
I don't know.
- Julie or Jules, one of the two
- Okay, I'll call you...
Dame is just a lovely, personal thing
and it's just something that one keeps
kind of quietly to one's self.
Some people use it.
I don't but I'm very honored to be so.
- Well, I know every time if I've ever had to say
'Sir Elton John' I always have to say 'Sir'.
So I'm like 'I'm going to get this right.'
(laughs)
- So how are you?
Because, I mean, this whole pandemic's happening.
Are you safe?
Are you healthy?
- I am safe
and I am healthy.
I am, funnily enough, and I'm sure you find the same thing
I feel busier than ever.
Because one is doing so much via the internet
and using the computer so much
and contacting people
and being in touch with families
and doing Zoom calls
and God knows what else.
- Yeah, no.
My husband and I were just talking about that.
I'm like, 'I've never felt busier'
and I already was really busy.
Because now it's all the jobs
plus taking care of the children and cooking and cleaning.
All the stuff that I don't normally do all of it.
- (laughs) How long have you been married then, Kelly?
- We've been together for about 8 years.
We've been married for, like, 7.
Yeah.
- Aw
- He's good.
You know, there have been points in this pandemic,
where I'm like, 'you need to go'.
(laughs)
And he feels the same.
So it's a lot of togetherness time with 3,
we have 4 children but 3 are in our house with us right now.
- Oh, my.
- Because our oldest one is 18.
But enough about me, no one cares about me.
They care about you.
- No, we do.
I'm interested.
- You shouldn't be.
You're way cooler.
Um, so my point though is, I know you won't remember this
because it is like a non-event for you
but just so you know,
obviously the Princess Diaries you were in
and I was the single from the movie.
The song was called 'Breakaway'
and so they invited me to that premier years ago
and you don't know this
but I never say 'Hi' to people generally
'cause I get too nervous
but our clothes, my dress,
it was a green dress with flowers
and it grazed your clothes as we passed on the red carpet.
- I'm so glad.
- I'm going to tell you what,
you think it's so silly but it made my entire, like,
I've talked about it for a year.
I was like, 'I was legit inches from Julie Andrews.'
- But Kelly, didn't you send me something once,
you sent me a recording of yours or something.
- I did.
It was because I had a Christmas record coming out
and I was hanging out with Trisha Yearwood
and her publicist is,
do you have the same publicist or something?
- I think it's the same agent.
I'm not sure.
- Agent, that's what it was.
It was somebody.
She was at the house and she was like,
'Oh, yeah, I work with Julie Andrews.'
I was like, 'Wait, what?'
(Julie laughs)
And I was like,
'Oh my god, I just covered My Favorite Things.'
It's completely different.
It's a different kind of version.
- Yeah, you sent it to me, I think.
Yeah.
- And she said, she was like, 'Well, I'll send it to her.'
And I was like,
'Oh my god, Julie Andrews is going to have something I did.'
It was really crazy.
- I love the way you sing, Kelly.
It's lovely.
- Oh, thank you so much.
Thank you so much.
I try.
Some days I sound, you know, nice.
And some days I sound like Janis Joplin
'cause I'm tired but whatever. (laughs)
- We all do, believe me.
- I was like, 'I just can't believe this is happening.'
But this pandemic though,
it's been separating people but also uniting them
and I heard that you had said something interesting
and you said that it reminded you of World War 2,
a little bit.
How so?
- I was a young child during the war
and it was that fear of the unknown
that lack of control that you have.
A little bit like when you are in an earthquake
or something.
There's nothing you can do
and you don't know when it's going to happen.
But the war made everyone in England where I was born
we bonded like crazy
because we absolutely had to support each other
and be strong for each other
and try to be brave and calm and so on
and its very much the same way now with this huge pandemic
and everybody's terrified and worried and scared.
It's very similar so, for me, it brings back those memories
a little bit.
- I did, randomly, I did this interview in the UK
a while back while promoting a record
and Vanessa Redgrave's was there promoting
a project she was doing
and she actually talked about that in the interview.
- Did she?
Oh, interesting.
Well, it was.
You know, it was huge for those of us who were...
Well, if it hadn't been for you wonderful Americans
we'd probably not be here today,
but you came in to help rescue
and do wonderful things for us.
My parents and I, I was in Wardle in musical
and we went to an american army base
and our salary was a good hearty meal
and I was given a T-bone steak
which I'd never seen in my life.
And I'd never seen so much meat in my life.
That entire T-bone would have fed our family
during the rationing.
Four of us, five of us, you know.
It was the most wonderful supper.
So seeing the way the...
I guess it was the army,
I think, I don't think it was air force
but what ever it was, it was an amazing visit.
It really was.
And I had to entertain, so.
- Oh my god, I bet they freaked out.
That's so cool.
And you said you were younger, right?
- Oh, yes, I was very young, yes.
But it was, well I started singing when I was about 7 or 8.
So yeah, and the war ended when I was about 10, I guess.
- Wow.
So what exactly is the podcast.
Tell us about it.
- Well, it's just called 'Julie's Library'
and it's about, I and my daughter are in my little library
and we read books,
or it's really geared towards very young children
but hopefully their parents and grandparent even
who want to sit with them and listen
and after we've read the story we discuss it.
We talk about the ideas.
We talk about words
and how wonderful they are
and we invite the kids to send things to us
and they come online and all kinds of things.
It's hopefully comforting
and something to listen to
and spark the imagination a little bit
so it was silly not to try to get it ready for release
and that's what we did.
- No, from one parent to another, thank you.
But while we're talking about the podcast,
I do want to obviously bring in Emma, your daughter.
Let's bring Emma in.
Emma, can you hear us?
Are you here?
- I can.
Can you hear me?
- [Kelly] I can.
- Hi, nice to meet you.
- All right, well we were just talking about the podcast
'Julie's Green Room' that's what you're calling it, right?
- No, 'Julie's Library'
but 'Julie's Green Room' is something
that I'd love to talk about as well.
Because, well Emma do you want to talk about that?
- So, 'Julie's Green Room' is a Netflix series
that we did about four years ago together.
And it stars Mom as the director
of her own small theater company
and she has students who come and learn theater,
how to produce a musical basically from her
and those were puppets created by the Jim Henson company.
Its a lovely show that celebrates the arts
and we've been finding and hearing that people have been
discovering it again during quarantine.
- On Netflix, Kelly.
- On Netflix.
And Mom has embarked on a social media campaign
of putting out some little videos
in conjunction with each of the episodes
on her Facebook page.
- And also we have wonderful guest stars
Josh Groben, we have.
- [Kelly] I love him!
- And Carol Burnett
and all sorts of wonderful people.
- [Emma] Sara Bareilles,
and Alec Baldwin
and lots of fun people.
- That's amazing.
I mean, y'all also, I know this because
whenever I was actually writing my own children's book
I was in there and I went into the store
and I kind of looked at all those stories and I had no idea
but y'all had written, what is it, 30 books together?
Children's books?
- It's actually over 30 now,
I think it's 32.
- Now, yeah.
32, 33.
- Oh my gosh, that's a lot of work.
Because honestly, I've written a couple
and they're almost harder,
like the cadence and how they,
'cause mine rhyme as well,
so it's just like the cadence of it is...
- Wow, good for you, Kelly.
- It's very difficult.
Oh, thank you.
But it was just a really interesting thing
Like, how does that work?
Like, whenever y'all have...
Even me with my editor we have creative differences
like, how does that work between you two?
Who wins in that creative argument?
- The best idea wins.
That's our saying.
- If we stumble on something,
there are two or three things that work
but one is for sure,
our mantra, is that the best idea wins.
If one of us is more passionate about something
or fervently believes that this is the way to go and so on,
the other one seems to recognize that.
And then the other is to take a little break
for a cup of tea or even a bathroom break once in a while
and it does wonders for the brain
because you suddenly stop what you are doing
and while you are fiddling around with a cup of tea
or something, you get back on track somehow.
I can't put any better way to say that, can you?
- Yeah, the answer comes.
- Yeah, the answer does come.
It's 'cause you've freed the brain for a moment.
- Yeah, I know.
Even writing songs, I'm like that.
I have to walk away and come back
and kind of escape the bubble.
- Of course.
- My question is, though, I grew up around so many books
and that's why I'm an avid reader now,
God bless my mom, I'm glad that she instilled that in me.
But my favorite book, I can't ever escape
and I'm really getting into it now
with my five year-old little girl
who now is in love with it as well
But was 'Matilda'.
That was my favorite book.
- Oh!
- Yeah, it was my first, like, big book to read by myself
and I was wondering since y'all are authors
and you love reading as well.
What would you suggest?
What were your favorite books when you were kids?
What's a story that you really love that you think
that parents should maybe get and read with them?
- You go first, Mom. - Emma, you go.
- You go first, darling.
(all laugh)
- Oh, you're so nice.
- We actually finish each other's sentences so...
That's funny, darling.
- Oh my god, I hope my daughter and I are like y'all.
This is adorable.
- Any way, we do finish each others sentences.
Go ahead, Em.
- All right.
So for me, that book was 'The Phantom Toll Booth'.
- I love that one.
- That was my rainy day book, my go-to book,
and I just loved the idea of being in your own house
and getting in a toy car
and driving through a little toy toll booth
and being in a totally different world.
(Julie laughs)
- And I remember what I loved best was that in that book
one of the places he drove to was a town called
'Dictionopolis' where people literally bought and sold words
and words had flavors colors to them
and I was just so completely enchanted by that
and I think that's part of the reason
why I love words to this day.
I really do.
- And y'all, is that the podcast
that y'all involve with the words, right?
Where you ask kids their favorite words and things?
- [Julie] Yes. - [Emma] Yes, exactly.
- It's really cool that y'all are innovative with that
and you include them and your engaging them.
That's a really, really clever thing to do.
- From your lips to all the children that are listening,
I hope they like it.
- No, my kids, my kids,
especially my daughter's learning to read right now
so she loves, like anytime she gets a new word,
she feels so proud.
So what are some of your favorite words?
If you love words so much?
Emma, what are some of your favorite ones?
- Family.
- [Kelly] Yeah.
- Is definitely one.
- We actually sort of started to play a game
recently, believe it or not,
because this is such a sad and terrible time
and I was trying to say to the family
'cause we get on Zoom, all of us, you know
I've got children in California
and I've got relatives and family in England
and so on
so I was saying to them all
think of the nicest word you can think of
to cheer us all today and we'll each contribute.
And my word, I think,
the first one I came up with was 'spring'.
Wasn't it, Emma?
- It was, yeah.
Another favorite of mine is 'hope'
and it's not just because it's a beautiful word
for right now but it's also my daughter's name
and I think that's why I chose it, or why we chose it.
- It's Hope and Sam, right?
- That's right, yeah.
- Those are great names.
They are great names.
- In fact, Kelly, Sam is sitting right in front of me today
because he is a phenomenal sound engineer
and he's been helping me get on to this recording today
because I know nothing about it.
- Yes!
Shout out to Sam!
What up!
- Aye.
Yup, he's sitting over there with his mask on
being a very good son.
- I'm going to play the game.
One of my favorite,
I think possibly my favorite word is 'magic'.
- Oh, that's great!
- Yeah, not just 'cause it's escapism.
I like the magic of it and you know that word.
But I like that anything can be magical.
Like, a moment, it could be snowing outside
or it could be something your kid says to you
that kind of breaks your heart in the best way.
- I get it.
Absolutely.
- Yeah.
- Well, honestly, there are so many
if you start thinking about them
'Joy.'
- 'Wonder.'
'Wonder' is another favorite of ours.
- Yeah, we have a motto for our publishing company
which is words, wisdom, wonder.
Words lead to wisdom which lead to wonder.
And we call them our three W's.
- I love that.
I love y'all as a team.
You're so great.
(all laugh)
- It's a great, great pleasure.
I mean, we didn't know when we began writing together
that it would be such a joy
but can you imagine, Kelly, if your little girl at five,
grew up and became an equal,
a beloved equal and you were writing with her.
It's quite a wonderful gift.
And that's the way it was for us.
We did fight a little bit when you were young, Emma.
- We did.
- I think that connection, nothing beats it.
When you have something that your kid likes,
even, like, my kid, no one in my family,
this is going to sound ridiculous,
no one in my family like beets,
But I love beets.
And so my daughter came along and, like, she's the one.
She's, like, obsessed with beets with me.
So we have beets and blue cheese all the time.
- Well, as we say in my family,
you share the beets gene, right?
- Yeah, you either hate them or love them.
- That's right, yeah.