Carrie Underwood Responds to Hate Tweets for 'Sound of Music' Role

Carrie Underwood is receiving a lot of pushback for starring in the upcoming Sound of Music live special – and she’s speaking out and defending herself.

“I get hate tweets and stuff like, ‘You’re not Julie Andrews!’” the 30-year-old American Idol champ told Entertainment Weekly. “I know I’m not Julie. Nobody is and I would never pretend that I was … I know my place.”

But Carrie has the support of the original Maria herself!

“Fifty years later, it’s time somebody had another crack at it,” Julie tells Zap2it. “I had the best time of my life doing it, and it did wonderful things for me. I think it’s great that it’s being done again, but doing it live must be so daunting for Carrie. I know they’re not doing the movie, though. They’re doing the Broadway show — that’s what they have the rights to — and I don’t know whether it will resonate similarly. In the movie, we cut some things from the stage version and added some songs.”

Carrie stars alongside Stephen Moyer, Audra McDonald, Laura Benanti, and Christian Borle in The Sound of Music, Live! airing Thursday, Dec. 5 on NBC!