Despite the fact that many people choose to skip them, the issue of credits is a real battle in which the interests of many actors conflict. In fact, Gregory Peck had to push hard for Audrey Hepburn’s work to be recognized in ‘Roman Holiday’ and put their name next to his, both in the credits and on the billboards.
“He’s going to win the Oscar”
Coming out first in the credits, before the film’s title appears, is a privilege that is not available to everyone. And less in the 50s, when William Wyler filmed the mythical ‘Roman Holiday’with Gregory Peck and a then unknown Audrey Hepburn.
At that time, Gregory Peck was the most famous star of the tape, having worked with directors such as Alfred Hitchcock or Elia Kazan. Although Hepburn was not unknown, since she had garnered some notoriety as a theater actress, in the cinema she was not yet the iconic face that would later be consolidated with ‘My fair lady’ or ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’.
No one seemed to doubt that Gregory Peck would be the only name to appear prominently before the title… except Peck himself. In the middle of production, the actor realized that Hepburn had the potential to become a big star and he thought that relegating her to a secondary place in credits did not correspond to her contribution to the film.
Peck called his agent and insisted that his name should also appear before the title. His agent completely refused: “You can’t do that. You’ve worked so hard for years to be a headliner,” to which Peck replied:
Oh sure I can do it. If your name isn’t next to mine when the movie comes out, I’m going to make a fool of myself. Because this girl is going to win the Oscar with the first interpretation of her.
In the end, he got the actress’s name to appear prominently just after his own and time proved him right: Indeed, Hepburn won the statuette for her role in the film (whereas poor Peck wasn’t even nominated on that occasion).
In Espinof | 101 essential classics to learn to love cinema