Dame Julie

In a showbiz world crowded with egos and divas, Dame Julie Andrews remains a breath of fresh air.

The British actress has a knack for turning minuses into pluses. She starred in “My Fair Lady” on Broadway, but the producers of the film version wanted a more experienced actress and chose Audrey Hepburn. So Andrews took the title role in “Mary Poppins” and won the Oscar for best actress.

More recently, the singer with perfect pitch endured a botched throat surgery, robbing her of her four-octave range.

Yet she isn’t singing the blues at age 70. She’s finding new interests and celebrating the 40th anniversary of “The Sound of Music” with a new two-DVD version released this month by Fox.

Q. What do you like about the new DVD of “The Sound of Music” versus the one released three years ago?

A. I think it’s got just all the bells and whistles. It’s got about as much as you could possibly have about “The Sound of Music.”

For me, it has a lot of footage that I’ve never seen before. Things of me like doing the prerecording of songs, which I completely forgot there was a camera rolling that day, and it was a revelation to see it all, to remember where we were, to actually be placed back there again.

Q. You serve as the host of the DVD.

A. Right, I did three separate things, really. One was my own interview, one was hosting it and then another was with Chris Plummer.

Q. On the new DVD, you sound justifiably proud of “The Sound of Music,” but did you ever grow weary of being associated with it?

A. Never. Not once. To be really honest with you, think about it, I’m the lucky human being who got asked to play the role and to have been part of something that was so historical and is such a part of movie musical history, it’s just a blessing.

Q. But combined with “Mary Poppins,” did you feel like you were starting to be typecast as a singing nanny?

A. Maybe in the early years, perhaps. … I think you’re remembered for the things that are your greatest successes, and those two were such overwhelming hits that I think it may have clouded people’s perception of me as being an actress and being able to do other things. But I think that over the years the body of work began to speak for itself.

Q. On the DVD, you tell how in the opening shot on the mountain, the helicopter downdraft kept knocking you down. Wasn’t it also freezing up there?

A. Yes. It was, and wet quite often. You know, lots of mud and lots of rain, tons of rain. We were like three weeks overdue, we went past our time and over budget.

It must have been a nightmare for (director) Robert Wise. We were having a great time, mostly, because we were a team, and here we were romping around Austria.

Q. Have you ever gone to a “Sound of Music” sing-along?

A. No. But I’ve often wanted to. I’d love to be a fly on the wall at one of those. But no, I’ve never had the … it’s not that I don’t have the inclination, I do, I just haven’t had the guts to get into the middle of it.

Q. Are you familiar with John Coltrane’s version of “My Favorite Things”?

A. Yes, you bet I am. Great, huh?

Q. Was winning the Oscar for “Mary Poppins” sweetly ironic, since it beat out “My Fair Lady”?

A. It was just sweet. It was a complete surprise. I didn’t expect it. I thought that when I saw the people around me that year, I was absolutely sure that Anne Bancroft should have had it and would get it, so it was a complete surprise when they called my name.

Q. Did you ever get to know Audrey Hepburn?

A. Yes. She became a great friend. She was an enchanting lady. … We got on extremely well. She said to me once, “Julie, you should have done the movie (“My Fair Lady”), but I didn’t have the guts to turn it down.” Nice of her.

Q. How have you dealt with the loss of your incredible four-octave singing voice?

A. Well, I don’t know. I guess as best I can. It’s the way it is. And I am constantly surprised at how busy I still am and how much has come along since then that perhaps I might not have embraced: my publishing company, my directing for the theater. Things that have been a real joy for me and a godsend under the circumstances, and if I had been still singing, I might not have considered them or had the time for them.

But was it a loss? Absolutely.

Q. As a role model for little girls, what advice do you have for them in these troubled times?

A. For little girls, oh my. I don’t know that I have advice, it’s up to the parents and people like that. I guess I have a great concern, I mean particularly with my books, I’m trying to be sure that they get, from our point of view, my daughter’s and mine, a sense of wonder, a sense of joy and a sense of nature, and I try to keep away from violence and things like that. And for me, those are very important things for future generations.

Q. Where do you get your ideas for your children’s books?

A. They seem to come at me. They can come from any quarter. The book about “The Last of the Really Great Wangdoodles,” I was looking up a word in the thesaurus, and I stumbled across this great list of mythical creatures, and there was the word wangdoodles, and the first thing I said was: “What a great name, I’m going to write a book one day called ‘The Last of the Really Great Wangdoodles.’ ” … And it just stuck with me, and I had to do it. …

(Another time) I was asked by my publishers if I had anything for young, young children, and I said to (daughter) Emma, “If you went to the library for one particular book, what would it be for (grandson) Sam?”

And she said “God, Mom, there’s no contest, he’s truck crazy, and I can’t find any, I can find some how-to books and practical books on the construction side and so on, but I can’t find any with a little theme or a family message or anything like that.” And I thought, “Oh boy, then perhaps we’d better write one.”

(The result: the “Dumpy the Dump Truck” series, most recently “Dumpy’s Happy Holiday,” released last month.)

Q. You’ve had such a distinguished career. Any disappointments?

A. No. I mean, everything’s been a learning experience. Everything’s been a joy for one reason or another. Growing, learning in every sort of way, whether it was my own craft or learning something about a country or embracing a wonderful screenplay or working with people that I adore.

I mean, I really do think I’ve been a very lucky, lucky lady.