Influence Of Audrey Hepburn: Opinion Essay

From the time I was a young kid I absolutely adored movies, my mom was always busy working and my dad stayed at home with me. He had responsibilities as well so he would throw on an old movie to keep me entertained. I remember one of the movies he turned on was “Roman Holiday” a movie starring Audrey Hepburn that is all about a runaway princess who falls in love in the process of her escape. I remember being absolutely enthralled with everything about Audrey Hepburn, from the way she spoke, her presence onscreen, and her grace and elegance. Thus began my slight obsession, to which I learned that Audrey Hepburn was in fact a ballet dancer. Which of course led to me begging my parents to let me start taking ballet class, to which they happily complied.

Though Audrey Hepburn is most known for her work as an actress, specifically in her movies “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” or “Sabrina.” But she actually was planning to be a ballerina first, she trained for most of her life under her real name, Audrey Kathleen Ruston, during World War 2. She would perform variations and other several different pieces of choreography on stage to raise money for many different charities and her own family, as well as delivering secret notes to people in the audience in nazi ressistance organizations by hiding them in her pointe shoes, which was incredibly dangerous for someone as young as she was. She grew up in Belgium, which was greatly influenced by World War 2. Her family then later moved to the Netherlands as her parents believed it would be safer, ballet became a comfort hobby and contributed greatly to her amazing presence onscreen and her acting skills.

I think the reason why Audrey Hepburn influenced me so much is because I have watched her movies since childhood, so it feels like I kind of grew up with her always there in a way. She is and always has been a huge inspiration to me for most of my life, and will continue to be one, as she is a timeless hollywood figure. As I said earlier, she originally wanted to be a ballet dancer, but as she eventually had to quit due to her body proportions, which were too awkward and lanky for nineteen-forty’s ballet body standards. But that never truly stopped her from dancing, in many interviews she has said she still considered herself more of a ballet dancer than she ever did an actress, even after she joined the EGOT club. She also danced in multiple movies that she starred in, and according to her co-workers, she was always the happiest when she was dancing. She was always known for her gracefulness and being incredibly hardworking on sets, which I chose to believe came from her past training as a ballerina. Audrey Hepburn may not be with us today, but her beauty, style, and elegance will always be in our hearts, and especially in mine.