Wednesdays With: Audrey Hepburn

Yet another series I think I want to try on this blog is my own take on TCM's Star of the Month. I want to use Wednesdays of each month to focus on a different star. For example, on the first Wednesday talk about my familiarity with the star, on the second Wednesday talk about a favorite film with the star, on the third Wednesday maybe pick a movie I haven't seen before or often to watch/talk about and so on depending on how many Wednesdays are in the month or what I feel like doing - I might change things up on occasion.

First up is Audrey Hepburn. I was inspired to choose her for the first month since she is the ultimate fave of a friend who encouraged me to actually work on this blog again. I also chose her because in the past, I haven't given her much attention because, frankly, I used to borderline dislike her as an actress.

Yes, I was one of those people who found her to be overrated when I was younger because I just didn't "get" her. Everybody seemed to love her, but I just felt like she was only an average actress whose roles didn't do much for me - and I'm sugar coating it because I was obnoxiously vocal about how much I just didn't like her and would roll my eyes at the very mention of her (ah, youth). Granted, my first introduction to her was My Fair Lady and, as a kid, I hated almost everything about that movie with or without her presence in it and didn't understand why it was praised just as much as musicals like The Sound of Music. I still can't say I'm overly fond of My Fair Lady, so that's just how much bias against her as an actress I had going into her other roles. For her other roles, well I haven't seen many, I'll be completely honest. My reason being most of them have just never appealed to me on a whole, regardless of her acting.

Of her filmography, I have seen/partially seen:

Roman Holiday
Sabrina
Green Mansions
Paris When It Sizzles
My Fair Lady
How To Steal A Million
Wait Until Dark
A Nun's Story (Partial)
War and Peace (Partial)

I'm sure I've seen small tidbits of some of her other roles, but not enough to say I've seen them partially. Some of her filmography I'm certain I've not seen any of. As you can clearly see, I have never sat through Breakfast At Tiffany's.

My opinion of Audrey Hepburn took a sharp turn when I discovered the movie, Sabrina. Ironically, it was a turning point in my opinion of Humphrey Bogart as well. I was just as obnoxious in my belief that he was annoying/overrated during my childhood. So, I just couldn't understand how an actor and actress I cared nothing for could make a movie together and it become one of my favorites. But that's how it happened. After that, I was much more willing to allow myself to watch Hepburn and Bogart films, respectively, to see if there were any other hidden gems I didn't know about. In the case of Audrey, I soon after finally sat all the way through How To Steal A Million and it quickly became my second favorite of hers.

While my opinion of her has changed drastically, I still can't say I'm fond of her other films that I've seen. I would like Roman Holiday a million times better if not for Gregory Peck who, and I'm being completely shallow here, bores me to tears as an actor in everything I've seen with him. I really like the gist of the movie, but I could probably use a refresher of it just to see how I feel about it now on a whole or to pay better attention to Audrey's performance now that I've grown to appreciate her better. I think she's fabulous in Wait Until Dark, possibly the best performance out of all of the ones I've seen, but the movie is too dark, in spite of its melodramatic and just plain bad script at times, for my ridiculously campy personality and I don't enjoy sitting through it on a whole. The other movies I could easily never watch again and be just fine. Especially Green Mansions.

As an actress, however, I can no longer scoff or raise my hands questioningly when others connect with her. As a person, I can do less so. Although I fell in love with Sabrina long before, I knew little to nothing about her personally prior to 2-3 years ago other than 1. apparently she "believed in pink" (which being a huge fan of pink myself, it only annoyed me when I was younger that we had anything in common - obnoxious, I tell you) and 2. apparently Humphrey Bogart didn't like working with her because he wasn't used to the method of not getting things right in 1-2 takes and he took out several personal life frustrations on her and everyone else in Sabrina, later reportedly apologizing for this. I didn't care to know much more about her since she still wasn't a favorite. But then I met a few wonderful people online and their enthusiasm for Audrey led to me getting a lot of second hand information about who she was and even led to me going out of my way to look up some new stuff about her. What I discovered was a lovely, enchanting woman with a pretty down to Earth and relate-able outlook on life in spite of the glamorized version of her I'd only ever seen growing up (I'm talking her rehashed quotes on things in stores or Holly Golightly on everything). Suddenly, she was a real person to me. She wasn't just some highly praised actress in movies I could more or less go without seeing, but she was a woman who had a heart and quite a nice one at that.

I want to spend this month trying to reflect and nurture this recent understanding of her so that I never lose it. I may not be able to make up for my insolent youth. I may not ever love her as an actress in a way that others do. I may never even have even half a fraction of true understanding of her nature as a person as others do. But I'm glad to have the appreciation that I now have and hope to have at least a little more in the future. She truly did seem like a precious soul so I would be wrong to ever think again that she shouldn't be celebrated.