At 90, Dame Julie Andrews has the kind of energy and enthusiasm for life that many people decades younger would envy.
And while the Sound of Music star isn't claiming to have discovered a magic formula for ageing well, she has revealed one remarkably simple habit that has remained part of her life for decades: moving her body first thing in the morning.
Speaking to Yahoo Life, Julie revealed that exercise had been woven into her daily routine for most of her life. "I have all my life worked out first thing in the morning or something like that, a little less so these days," she said.
Her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton believes another factor has helped keep her mother youthful: curiosity. "I think it's because Mom is at heart a curious person," she told the publication. "She stays very interested and very curious about creativity." Julie agreed, adding that she is "still learning".
© Getty ImagesIt's an approach that appears to have served the Oscar-winning actress well. In a wonderfully candid conversation with Julia Louis-Dreyfus on her Wiser Than Me podcast in 2024, Julie was asked how old she actually felt.
"Well, I probably feel like in my 50s, honest to God," she replied. "As long as the brain holds out, I'm doing okay. You know, and I don't feel bad at all now."
© Getty ImagesJulie Andrews' lifelong exercise routine
Perhaps unsurprisingly for a woman who famously danced across the Austrian Alps as Maria von Trapp, movement has been a constant throughout Julie's life.
Long before walking became the wellness world's favourite low-impact workout, Julie was using it to build her stamina.
While preparing for a demanding run at the London Palladium, she began taking brisk walks through the countryside, deliberately tackling hills and steep inclines to strengthen her legs and improve her endurance.
© Getty ImagesBallet, stretching and yoga have also remained staples. Back in 1996, Julie revealed on The Rosie O'Donnell Show that she would begin her day with around 45 minutes of stretching, aerobics and ballet barre, describing them simply as "all the things I know work for me."
It is perhaps that last phrase that holds the real secret. Rather than constantly chasing new exercise trends, Julie found movement she enjoyed and could sustain, then kept doing it.
Several years later, she described a similarly unfussy approach, saying she preferred to "work out as little as I can for as much gain as I can", incorporating yoga and a little ballet for around 30 or 40 minutes every other day. Her goal wasn't necessarily to transform her body, either. She said she exercised to "keep supple" for herself rather than for a role.
Why Julie Andrews started walking
Julie's relationship with walking stretches back to her years as one of Hollywood's most in-demand musical stars. Preparing for the physical demands of performing, she realised she needed more stamina and began taking daily brisk walks, seeking out hills to challenge herself.
It is a habit that feels remarkably contemporary. Walking is increasingly championed as an accessible form of exercise, while maintaining strength, balance and mobility becomes particularly important as we grow older.
But Julie wasn't thinking about longevity hacks when she established her routine. Exercise was simply part of her working life. Her extraordinary discipline began even earlier. Julie was performing professionally as a child, and she has credited those demanding early years with instilling a work ethic that stayed with her throughout adulthood.
"I am grateful for the early years of my life when the training was very disciplined and crazy," she told Yahoo Life. "It gave me a work ethic and made me really have to be good."
© Matt Agudo / SplashNews.comHow Julie Andrews approaches ageing
That doesn't mean the Mary Poppins star pretends ageing hasn't changed her. When Julia Louis-Dreyfus asked about being 88, Julie admitted there were moments when getting older could be "a nuisance".
"I want to do more and I want to exercise more and all of those things," she explained, acknowledging the "aches and pains" that can accompany ageing. Rather than allowing that to overshadow everything else, however, Julie's approach appears to be one of adaptation.
The vigorous dance routines and relentless performance schedules of her younger years may be behind her, but she has continued working creatively. In recent years, she has narrated Bridgerton as the unmistakable voice of Lady Whistledown and continued writing children's books with Emma.
