Class is an attitude many of our starlets seem to have forgotten.
With her dazzling doe eyed stare, pixie cut and penchant for donning the most beautiful of Givenchy gowns, Audrey Hepburn embodied the classic Hollywood ingénue. Talented, intelligent and always elegantly composed, Audrey proved that fame shouldn’t equate to a frivolous freak show. By contrast, she used her celebrity to spread brilliant gems of wisdom to society, including one of my personal favourites :“For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone”.
I somehow feel as though if Audrey were to see today’s celebrity circus, littered with scantily clad starlets and knee deep in DUIs, her big brown eyes would widen with horror. If I magically happened to be with Ms Hepburn at the moment she saw Fame- The 2014 edition, I’d probably turn to her and say “Oh, It’s not all bad… we’ve still got a couple of good ones left”. Enter: Emma Watson and Lupita Nyong’O. Where many of their peers have failed to navigate the treacherous Fame Forest, these two young starlets have not just managed to keep it together, but have conquered and waved their flag atop of Mega Star Mountain- a very rare feat for Hollywood’s young generation.
So what is it that makes Watson and Nyong’O succeed and shine so brightly among the galaxy of bright young things in La La Land? Is it their talent? Yes, but Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Bynes are (or were) also very talented. Is it their fabulous fashion sense? Yes, but designer dresses can only get you so far. What I believe sets Watson and Nyong’O apart are that both have something I like to call The Audrey Factor. That is, they exude a rare combination of talent, beauty and intelligence, just like Hepburn. When Emma and Lupita hit the red carpet, neither feel it necessary to wear crop tops, booty shorts or suggestively placed cut outs in order to garner attention. They command attention from the cameras through their grace. In a world where the Sex Factor is championed by so many Hollywood heavyweights, Watson and Nyong’O are a refreshing reminder to us all that it pays to play it classy.