Over a period of two decades—in the prim ’50s and the looser ’60s—every stylish film in Hollywood seemed to star Audrey Hepburn. And who could blame those directors and producers? The Brussels-born actor always had it: a magnetic charm, a dancer’s grace, the ability to make even the simplest ensemble look painfully chic.
It’s why our collective obsession with her has never really faded—and it’s set to deepen once again, with the imminent arrival of not one but two new Audrey Hepburn biopics. There’s Lily Collins’s take on the actor, in a yet-to-be-titled drama set during the production of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and Dinner With Audrey, in which the friendship between Thomasin McKenzie’s Hepburn and Ansel Elgort’s Hubert de Givenchy is center stage.
Ahead of them both, we present the 11 Hepburn movies that are essential viewing for a full understanding of the star’s oeuvre, from the early classics to the later, lesser-seen gems.
Roman Holiday (1953)
After four years of minor roles across screens big and small, Hepburn’s breakthrough came at the age of 24, as the angelic Princess Ann opposite Gregory Peck’s jaded journalist Joe Bradley in William Wyler’s glorious love letter to the Eternal City. With her gamine crop, neckerchief, full skirt, and lace-up flat sandals, riding a Vespa over cobblestones and enjoying ice cream on the Spanish Steps, Ann remains the poster girl for European summer style, and earned Hepburn a best-actress Oscar for her efforts. An unknown ingénue to Hollywood fixture in one fell swoop.
