Emma Thompson: 'Hepburn couldn't act'

Emma Thompson has admitted that she thinks Audrey Hepburn 'couldn't act or sing', calling the actress 'fantastically twee'.

The Love Actually star, who is currently working on a screenplay for a remake of My Fair Lady, insisted that she 'isn't fond' of Hepburn's portrayal of Eliza Doolittle in the 1964 musical.

According to WENN, Thompson explained: "I was thrilled to be asked to do it because, having a look at it, I thought that there needs to be a new version. I'm not hugely fond of the film. I find Audrey Hepburn fantastically twee.

"Twee is whimsy without wit. It's mimsy-mumsy sweetness without any kind of bite. And that's not for me. She can't sing and she can't really act, I'm afraid. I'm sure she was a delightful woman – and perhaps if I had known her I would have enjoyed her acting more, but I don’t and I didn’t, so that's all there is to it, really."

She added: "It was [costumer] Cecil Beaton's designs and [Hepburn's co-star] Rex Harrison that gave it its extraordinary quality. I don't do Audrey Hepburn. I think that she's a guy thing… It's high time that the extraordinary role of Eliza was reinterpreted, because it's a very fantastic part for a woman."