“This man is a genius”: the director Audrey Hepburn would have played any role for
The life of Audrey Hepburn was a truly remarkable one, such that even if she’d never stepped onto a film screen or become a true legend of the game, it still would have been that way.
When you look Hepburn up, the title of humanitarian sits rightfully next to her. During World War II, members of her family were executed for fighting in the resistance against German occupation, while as a young girl, she would put on ‘underground concerts’, singing and dancing for resistance soldiers, to raise money for the cause. She’s also delivered documents and volunteered as much as possible to help the side, a crazy act of bravery for a child.
It was only after the war was over that Hepburn’s talents could turn into an entertainment career, rather than political tools. Already a remarkable singer and dancer, it was around the mid-1940s, only after she was able to relax, that she fell in love with movies too. It came at the perfect time as her wartime malnutrition would soon prevent her from becoming the prima ballerina she initially intended to be.
So instead, she decided to go all in on theatre and film, devoting herself to the study of acting and performing as much as possible. Then, based in London, she’d see movies as much as possible to not only hone her craft, but simply to inspire her, as she came to adore what she was seeing on screen.
We all know the next part. Hepburn was cast in Gigi on Broadway, then in Roman Holiday, and then, after that, was the biggest breakout star around. Winning ‘Best Actress’ for that first major role, Hollywood adopted her as their new favourite face, and with other projects like Sabrina, Charade and the iconic Breakfast at Tiffany’s, she levelled up to being the leading light of an era.
But under it all, one thing remained, which was simply a pure and passionate love for the arts. From the late 1960s, as she pulled back from her career to raise her children and focus on charity work, that love was passed along the bloodline as her son, Luca Dotti, recalled hours upon hours spent in the cinema with his mother.
In particular, one memory always stood out. “Watching ET at a movie theatre in Rome, my mother, extremely moved and squeezing my hand, whispered to me, ‘Luca, this man is a genius’,” Dotti said in Audrey At Home, remembering a moment when they went to see the 1982 sci-fi flick.
Not long after, that genius called Hepburn up. Steven Spielberg was working on Always, and he made a bold request for Hepburn to take on a small cameo role. Still with the same glee and excitement towards the movie world, Dotti remembered of his mother, “When I asked her what the part was, she replied, ‘But it doesn’t matter! Do you realise he actually wants me?’”
Her small role in Always would end up being her final appearance on screen, allowing her to go out with the same glory she had coming into Hollywood, making her final project with a filmmaker she admired.
