Shirley MacLaine turned down lead role in ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’

Shirley MacLaine doesn’t have any regrets…Breakfast at Tiffany’s wise.

In her new memoir, her sixteenth published work, MacLaine talks about her decision to pass on playing the role of socialite Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, immortalized on screen by Audrey Hepburn.

“In 1961, they offered me the role of Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, but I turned it down because I didn’t want to have to worry about my weight to be able to wear all those outfits and do all those fittings,” she explains in The Wall of Life: Pictures and Stories from this Marvelous Lifetime. “I legendarily hated fittings. I also didn’t think it was a very good script.”

“The producers were very disappointed,” she added. “At one point, though, I did think, I should have done that and stayed thin, but I don’t really regret it.”

MacLaine has previously talked about passing on the role, but has often chalked it up to choosing another film instead — 1961’s Two Loves.

Rather famously, Truman Capote, who wrote the novel on which the film is based, wanted Marilyn Monroe to portray Holly Golightly, feeling she was the best fit for the character. Monroe, however, declined and chose to make The Misfits instead, which became her final feature film.

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MacLaine and Hepburn worked together on The Children’s Hour, also released in 1961. Sharing a photo of her and Hepburn on the set of that film in her book, MacLaine wrote, “[It was] one of the first major Hollywood movies to directly address the then-­controversial subject of homosexuality. I grew up in the ballet, where a lot of people were gay, so that was never something that bothered me. Audrey also grew up in the ballet, so it felt like we were already old friends, and I adored working with her. She taught me a little about dressing; I taught her a little bit about cussing. I had a crush on the director, William Wyler—­ on his soul, specifically—­ and after filming, Audrey and I were friends for years.”

It’s interesting that MacLaine points to costume fittings as a source of her dislike of the Holly Golightly role. Hepburn famously worked with fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy, and their collaboration on Tiffany’s resulted in one of the most iconic screen looks of all time with Holly’s tiny tiara, string of pearls, sunglasses, and little black dress.

Legendary costume designer Edith Head is credited as costume supervisor on the film, and it is likely she would have overseen MacLaine’s ensembles if she had accepted the part. Givenchy was specifically a collaborator with Hepburn, so the film would have probably looked entirely different in terms of its styling (though Head did go on to create a lavish, fantastical wardrobe for MacLaine a few years later in 1964’s What a Way to Go!).

The Wall of Life hits shelves on Oct. 22.