Julie Andrews Recreated This Iconic ‘Sound of Music’ Scene in Front of Tourists

As if the snow-capped mountains of the Swiss Alps and the Matterhorn weren’t enough to create a memorable moment, imagine stumbling upon none other than Julie Andrews singing a tune from one of her most iconic roles. That’s exactly what happened, according to the star. During a recent episode of Seth Meyers’s podcast, Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers, Andrews recalled singing “The Hills are Alive/The Sound of Music” during a walk in Switzerland. During the impromptu performance, a group of tourists happened to catch a bit of her song.

“I was about to go to do some concerts, particularly some in Las Vegas and before that in London. I had to get myself in shape, I had to get my voice in shape and all kinds of things,” Andrews said. She had just been speaking abouther family’s longtime home in Switzerland. “There is never anybody really in the area where we are, and so I began to sing ‘The Hills Are Alive’ rather loudly [during my walk]. And a whole group of Japanese tourists came up and over the hill with all their cameras, looking very puzzled. It was hilarious, it really was. But it resonated with me so much, that moment.”

The Sound of Music hit theaters in 1965 after Mary Poppins blasted Andrews into superstardom just a year before. The Sound of Music, which earned Andrews an Academy Award nomination, was set in both Austria and Switzerland. In the film, she played Maria, the governess to the von Trapp family. She’d eventually fall in love with Captain von Trapp, who was played by the late Christopher Plummer. 

After Andrews shared the story, Meyers was in disbelief — and suggested that the group of lucky tourists were in a similar state and assumed that what they witnessed was a Julie Andrews lookalike.

“No one would think it’s the real [Julie Andrews], they’re like, ‘I’m sure it’s just someone they hire,’ he said.