It’s hard to imagine a ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ starring an actress other than Audrey Hepburn. Things could have been very different if they had listened to Truman Capotewhat wanted to have starred in the movie with Marilyn Monroe and hated the adaptation with the strength of a thousand suns.
the other holly
In 1961, ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ was released, an adaptation of Truman Capote’s novel of the same name, directed by Blake Edwards and starring a iconic Audrey Hepburn in the role of Holly Golightly. That role marked a before and after her in her career, consolidating her as an actress and causing a great impact in the world of fashion.
The stars aligned in this winning combination that, however, could have been otherwise. On the one hand, at first Hepburn and her husband Mel Ferrer were they opposed her playing the role of a sex worker (although Capote said he didn’t see Holly as a prostitute).
However, the main opposition that this adaptation found was that of the author of the novel himself: Capote was totally against Audrey Hepburn being the lead and considered that the studio had “betrayed him in every possible way” by making that choice.
Apparently, Capote wrote his novel with Marilyn Monroe in mind like carefree Holly Golighly. Not only that: also wanted to co-star in the movie in the role of Paul Varjak (who was ultimately played by George Peppard).
Fortunately, producer Marty Jurow convinced him that “the part wasn’t good enough for him”since Varjak was going to be just a prop for Holly, the true focus of the story.
However, he continued to insist on the Monroe thing to the point where Jurow ended up on a plane proposing the role to the actress. After this, Monroe’s acting teacher called the studios to clarify that she would not participate in the film and the rest is history.
The betrayal that Capote felt before the final election reached the ears of the whole world, making Hepburn truly uncomfortable when the novelist was walking around during the filming of the film.
Despite the general recognition enjoyed by the film and its leading actress, Capote continued to hate Hepburn’s work in the adaptation: “It was the worst casting mistake I’ve ever seen. It made me want to throw up”.