Rooney Mara will play Audrey Hepburn in a new Apple biopic about the Breakfast at Tiffany’s actor

Rooney Mara is set to play the iconic Audrey Hepburn in an upcoming biopic, telling the story of the actress’s fascinating life. We couldn’t think of a better actress to capture Hepburn’s spirit – they even look scarily alike!

The biopic will be made by Apple Studios, and directed by Call Me By Your Name director Luca Guadagnino. Excitingly, Rooney will also produce. No details yet on who else will join her in the cast, but we hope that’ll come soon. 

The exact events of Hepburn’s fascinating life that the biopic will cover are being kept strictly under wraps for now, but we can hazard a guess as to what we think (or really hope) will be included. 

Audrey Hepburn was born in Brussels and lived in the Netherlands during the WW2 German occupation. She went on to become a ballet dancer in Amsterdam and a chorus girl in London’s West End. Talk about a cinematic life before she even started making films.

She went on act in cult classics Breakfast At Tiffany’s (as flighty femme fatale Holly Golightly), Roman Holiday (as Princess Ann) and My Fair Lady (as Eliza Dolittle). She was nominated for an Oscar five times and won the Best Actress accolade for her performance in Roman Holiday. So the team behind the new biopic have got to excellent subject matter to play with. 

Further to that, Hepburn dedicated much of her latter life to humanitarian work – particularly with children’s charity UNICEF as a goodwill ambassador – a decision shared by Mara herself, who has worked extensively with Oxfam in recent years.

The fascination with Hepburn herself seems to have been reignited in recent years – a documentary looking into her life, Audrey, was released back in 2020, delving deep into the trauma of her young life.

Guadagnino and Mara are also working together on a mini TV series which looks to be a retelling of period drama and novel Brideshead Revisted, which is due to be released this year. 

Cate Blanchett, Andrew Garfield, Ralph Fiennes and Taylor Swift’s beau Joe Alwyn are also set to join its cast. Mara will play Lady Julia Flyte, a debutante who grapples with the pressures of religion. Deep stuff.