Emily Blunt has said she hopes her performance as Mary Poppins inspires her children to adopt English accents.

The British star shares daughters Hazel, four, and Violet, two, with her American husband John Krasinski and the family are based in the US.

Describing her accent as the nanny as “beyond British, like posher than my mother”, she told the Press Association: “I am (hoping it will rub off on them) although I don’t think I have a prayer because they live in Brooklyn surrounded by American children and their American dad.”

A Quiet Place VIP Fan Screening – London
Emily Blunt and John Krasinski (Ian West/PA)

She added: “But now they think I can fly so that is awesome.

“I did have to say that I couldn’t and then Hazel was like ‘how did you do it then?’

“And I said we had cables and they actually put a little harness on her and they floated her around.”

Blunt added that her flying scenes, in which she descends and ascends to the clouds holding her umbrella with her feet perfectly turned out, ended up causing her physical pain.

She said: “I had shin splints the whole way through this film. You know that feeling where you go for a run and you haven’t run for a while? That is what I felt throughout Mary Poppins.

“I was worried I was going to fall, I was worried the wire would break and I would be that person … ‘Can you believe how Emily Blunt died?’

“I really thought about it for a second. I was like ‘This could be how I go’.”

The actress said she had far greater anxiety for these stunts than for the big action film Edge Of Tomorrow, in which she starred opposite Tom Cruise.

“I didn’t have children then, when I did Edge Of Tomorrow, so I was just more gung-ho and I think when you have children you lose your confidence,” she said.

“I remember my mum always saying that to me and it’s so true.”

Mary Poppins Returns is released in UK cinemas on December 21.