Audrey Hepburn’s Son Reveals Why She Would Have Disliked New Biopic

Lily Collins is thrilled about her new role portraying Audrey Hepburn, yet Hepburn’s eldest son thinks the iconic actress might have found the idea “cringe-worthy.”

The 36-year-old star of Emily In Paris will take on the legendary role in a biopic focused on the filming of Hepburn’s 1961 classic, Breakfast At Tiffany’s.

The film is inspired by Sam Wasson’s book, “Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and the Dawn of the Modern Woman,” which offers a comprehensive look at the creation of one of Hepburn’s most iconic films.

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, Sean Hepburn Ferrer, 65, shared that his mother might not have been entirely comfortable with the book’s title and might have found the idea of a film tribute a bit hard to accept.

He remarked, “I think my mother would cringe at the phrase ‘Dawn of the modern woman,'” adding, “But she always cringed at any form of flattery.”

The film has been a decade in development, mostly due to Collins’ Emily in Paris schedule, Hepburn Ferrer claimed.

Lily Collins is set to play Hollywood icon Audrey Hepburn in a film about the making of her 1961 film Breakfast At Tiffany’s

It will be based on Sam Wasson’s book Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and the Dawn of the Modern Woman (Hepburn pictured in the 1961 film) 

Breakfast at Tiffany’s saw Hepburn as Holly Golightly, a young New York socialite who develops a relationship with a struggling young writer after he moves into her apartment building.

The film, which was based on the 1958 novella by Truman Capote and directed by Blake Edwards, was nominated for five awards in total at the 1962 Oscars, including Best Actress for Hepburn.

Collins announced the news on her Instagram account on Tuesday alongside a picture of Hepburn from Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

‘It’s with almost 10 years of development and a lifetime of admiration and adoration for Audrey that I’m finally able to share this,’ she wrote. ‘Honored and ecstatic don’t begin to express how I feel…’

The Golden Globe and Emmy nominee will produce the project alongside her husband, Charlie McDowell, while Alena Smith, who penned Apple TV series Dickinson, will write the script.

No director has been announced, and it is unclear who will play Capote, director Edwards or costume designer Edith Head.

The news proved divisive for some who criticized Collins’ casting.

‘Audrey was pure grace and depth; Lily Collins is pure Emily in Paris vibes,’ wrote one social media user. 

The Golden Globe nominee, 36, will produce alongside her husband, Charlie McDowell, (pictured) while Alena Smith, who penned Apple TV series Dickinson, will write the script

Hepburn’s son Sean Hepburn Ferrer, 65, said his late mother may ‘cringe’ as she struggled with compliments, before throwing his full support behind Collins 

‘This is lazy aesthetic casting over actual talent,’ wrote another, adding: ‘A legend like Audrey deserves more than just a lookalike.’

But Collins has Hepburn Ferrer’s approval. Asked what he made of the news, he told the Daily Mail: ‘Love her.’

And despite not having any involvement to date with the project, he fully trusts his ‘friend’ Wasson to deliver as well as Collins and her husband.

‘Sam Wasson is a friend, and I am thrilled for him,’ he said. ‘I wasn’t asked [to give input]. I’m happy to watch from the sidelines as long as they remain historically faithful.

‘I am not sure how such a historical “snap shot” might get translated into a film and therefore how relevant it might ultimately be.’

He added: ‘Ten years in development seems a bit excessive but it was probably mostly due to Lily Collins’ schedule on Emily in Paris.’ 

Hepburn Ferrer and his daughter Emma Ferrer were previously involved with and contributed to Audrey, a 2020 documentary about the late Hollywood icon, directed by Helena Coan.

That same year Hepburn Ferrer and his wife, Karin, published Little Audrey’s Daydream, a children’s book about his mother’s childhood in Europe. He also published a biography of his mother, Audrey Hepburn, an Elegant Spirit, in 2003. In April he will release, Intimate Audrey An Authorized Biography, which he cowrote with Wendy Holden.

Collins bears a likeness to the elegant British star, and in her series Emily in Paris, her character’s looks have often paid homage to Hepburn’s style 

Hepburn pictured with her then husband Mel Ferrer and their son Sean

Hepburn Ferrer, whose father was Hepburn’s first husband Mel Ferrer, revealed he is also still in regular contact with Rooney Mara who was set to play his mother in a biopic directed by Luca Guadagnino back in 2022. But come 2023, Guadagnino was no longer involved.

The film, currently titled ‘Untitled Apple Studios/Rooney Mara Project’ on IMDb is in ‘pre-production’ according to the online film database, with an update last listed as July 26, 2023. Mara is listed as a producer.

Speaking to Deadline in 2024, Mara said: ‘The project is not completely dead.’ 

‘I don’t know Luca and cannot comment as to his vision,’ Hepburn Ferrer said. ‘I do know Rooney and hers is a genuine affection towards my mother. We talk regularly.’

Born to a Dutch baroness, Ella van Heemstra, and a British-Austrian businessman, Joseph Hepburn-Ruston, Hepburn was nominated for five Oscars and won the best actress award in 1953 for her performance in Roman Holiday. She is considered one of the greatest stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age with roles in Funny Face, Sabrina and My Fair Lady in which she played the charming cockney Eliza Doolittle.

She dedicated her life to advocating for children living in poverty and bravely carried messages for the Dutch resistance during the Nazi occupation during the Second World War.

In December 1992 she received the US Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.

She welcomed a second son. Luca Dotti, now 56, with her second husband, Italian psychiatrist Andrea Dotti.

She died in 1993 from abdominal cancer.