Audrey Hepburn TV Series To Be Penned By ‘The Good Wife’ Writer Jacqueline Hoyt
Screen goddessAudrey Hepburnhas proven an elusive subject for biopics. The last attempt to adapt her rather incredible life into a biographical drama resulted in a corny TV movie which had Jennifer Love Hewitt doing an impression of the Hollywood icon. But maybe the company behindThe Young PopeandMy Brilliant Friendcould do Hepburn justice — with the help of a talented writer in the form ofThe Good WifescribeJacqueline Hoyt.
Varietyreports thatThe Good Wifewriter and producer Jacqueline Hoyt has been tapped to write a limited drama series calledAudrey, which will be a biographical adaptation of the life of Audrey Hepburn. (Don’t mix it up with thedocumentary of the same name.) Italy’s Wildside, the Fremantle company behindThe Young PopeandMy Brilliant Friend, is producing.Audreyis based on a treatment co-written by Hepburn’s sonLuca Dotti(whose father, Italian psychiatrist Andrea Dotti, was married to Hepburn in 1970 before they divorced 10 years later), and Italian journalist and writerLuigi Spinola. Dotti and Spinola co-authored the 2015 bestsellerAudrey at Home, which was a part-biography, part-cookbook which combined anecdotes, excerpts from Hepburn’s letters, her recipes, and some unpublished family photographs.
In the book, “Luca and Luigi explored the singularity of Audrey’s real self,” per a Wildside statement, adding that “the muse, the mother and the later humanitarian all closely relate to a girl that never stopped to be amazed by the gift of life.”
ButAudreywill be more than a glorified family cookbook — the series will explore Hepburn’s “formative years,” the statement said. As of now, there are no further details on the series or its casting.
With a Hollywood icon like Hepburn, whose face graces countless college dorms and movie exhibition halls, there’s an immediate burden on a biopic to “get it right.” But there’s one major pitfall with trying to depict the actress of classics likeRoman Holiday, Breakfast at Tiffany’s,Sabrina, andMy Fair Lady— she’s known more for being the face of glamorous Hollywood fashion than for being a talented performer in her own right (which is a shame, because her charisma is through the roof) or for her later years as an activist. As a result, most depictions of her end up feeling more like impressions than flesh-and-blood portrayals, which is what you’d need from a good biopic.
But perhaps Hoyt could be the person to capture Hepburn’s spirit for the series — she’s written and produced forThe Good WifeandThe Leftovers, and most recently, Barry Jenkins' upcoming adaptation ofThe Underground Railroadfor Amazon Prime Video. It all comes down to casting now.
Audreywill be executive produced by Wildside CEOMario GiananiandLorenzo GangarossawithLudovica Damiani, who originated the project. Dotti and Spinola will also serve as executive producers.
