Ariana Grande has openly spoken about Audrey Hepburn being her idol, and a source exclusively tells Life & Style she’s set her sights on playing the Hollywood icon in an upcoming biopic as she hedges her bets with fashion parallels on the red carpet.
“Ariana is playing down her ambition in all of this and being very humble when people ask her about playing Audrey, but of course she would kill for that role,” the insider says. The Grammy winner, 31, who began her entertainment career as an actress at the age of 13, has been hard at work on the promo trail for the first part of Wicked as of late, which is paying dividends as the movie breaks box office records.
Of Ariana’s new dream role, the source says, “A year ago, that might have seemed way out of her league, but now with the way she delivered in Wicked the industry is taking her very seriously as an actress and not just a pop star, so it’s entirely within reach.”
The Broadway adaptation, which saw the highest opening weekend for any adapted musical, still has another part yet unreleased, but already filmed. The second half’s promo tour will again demand the “Thank U, Next” singer’s attention next year, but she’s free for the most part to begin fielding offers for more serious roles, including a part in Jennifer Aniston’s adaption of the Dolly Parton classic 9 to 5.
Entertainment Tonight approached Ariana to discuss what she thought about channeling Audrey Hepburn’s classic style on the red carpet and manifesting her success in the Jon M. Chu-directed musical, suggesting, “I feel like you could manifest playing Audrey Hepburn,” to which she responded coyly, “Oh my goodness, oh my goodness – I have no idea, that would have to be done so well and so perfectly … I don’t know, there’s no way I could.”
The reporter reassured Ariana she would kill it after her display of humility, as have many others online since people began drawing parallels to the Nickelodeon star and the Golden Age icon. Noting Ariana’s new fondness for over-the-eye bangs and vintage fashion, Hannah Jackson of Variety asked with the title of their piece, “Is Ariana Grande Using Fashion to Audition for an Audrey Hepburn Biopic?”
Rooney Mara has already been tapped to play Audrey Hepburn in an Apple production since 2023, but the project remains untitled, leaving many to wonder whether or not it’s going ahead as planned. Lily Collins has also been floated for the role.
The first source adds, “An Audrey biopic would be iconic and would be a dream come true for any actress but especially for Ariana because she’s such a big fan.”
“She loves the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s and can recite all of Audrey’s lines,” the insider adds, noting, “She’s really leaning into Audrey’s looks from that movie for style inspiration for all of her awards looks. She loves that era of fashion so it’s very genuine, but naturally, if she can make people think of her when they think of Audrey that would be fantastic.”
“That way, when a biopic is made her name will come up because she would very much love to portray her.”
