Audrey Hepburn's Son Reveals He's Had 'Several Talks' With Lily Collins About Upcoming Biopic

Audrey Hepburn's eldest son has had "several talks" with Lily Collins about her upcoming portrayal of the screen legend — and the conversations, he says, made her laugh.

Sean Hepburn Ferrer, Hepburn's son from her marriage to actor Mel Ferrer, told Deadline that he suggested things to Collins during their exchanges about playing his mother in a biopic based on Sam Wasson's bestselling book Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's and the Dawn of the Modern Woman. Collins, best known for the Netflix series Emily in Paris, signed on to play Hepburn in the project.

Ferrer said Collins "has forever been named as a possible successor" of Hepburn because of her looks, her talents, Emily in Paris, and fashion, according to Deadline. The comparison between the two has circulated in fashion and entertainment circles for years; the Wasson book centres on the making of Breakfast at Tiffany's and Hepburn's role in reshaping mid-century ideas of femininity.

A separate Hepburn project has already reached screens. Dinner with Audrey, starring Thomasin McKenzie as Hepburn and Ansel Elgort as the designer Hubert de Givenchy, premiered at the Cannes film festival in May. Ferrer said he knew little about that film but described it as "sweet" and "charming," and called McKenzie "a very serious young actress," according to Deadline.

The Hepburn name carries a long history of biopic attempts. Ferrer said he has known Natalie Portman since she was 14 and is close to Rooney Mara, who was once attached to an Audrey Hepburn biopic to be directed by Luca Guadagnino. That project did not move forward.

Hepburn's younger son, Luca Dotti — her child from her second marriage, to Italian psychiatrist Andrea Dotti — struck a lighter tone about the various Hepburn films in development. He described himself as "a curious bystander" and said he "would love to see it," according to Deadline.

For admirers of Hepburn's work, the attention from both sons carries its own weight. Ferrer's willingness to speak with Collins directly — sharing personal details and family history — gives the Wasson-based project a line of connection to Hepburn's lived experience that not every biopic receives. Whether that translates to the screen will depend on the film itself, which has not yet set a release date.