“Actually, you have to be a little bit in love with your leading man and vice versa. If you’re going to portray love, you have to feel it. You can’t do it any other way. But you don’t carry it beyond the set.”
- May 4, 1929 – January 20, 1993
- British
- Actress, Humanitarian, Fashion Icon, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador
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Quote
“Actually, you have to be a little bit in love with your leading man and vice versa. If you’re going to portray love, you have to feel it. You can’t do it any other way. But you don’t carry it beyond the set.”
Explanation
This quote by Audrey Hepburn offers an insightful glimpse into the emotional authenticity required in acting, particularly when portraying romantic relationships. By stating that actors must be “a little bit in love” with each other, she suggests that genuine emotional connection—even if temporary—is necessary to convincingly depict love on screen. The intimacy of performance, in her view, cannot be fully faked; it must be felt, however fleetingly, to be real to the audience.
Hepburn adds an important boundary: “you don’t carry it beyond the set.” This reflects a mature, professional understanding of the actor’s craft—the ability to immerse in emotion for the role, yet detach when the scene ends. It’s a balance of vulnerability and discipline, where the actor gives truth to the moment without confusing it with personal reality. For someone who worked with many leading men and portrayed iconic romances, Hepburn’s words reveal the fine line between emotional engagement and professional control.
In modern storytelling and performance, her insight remains highly relevant. It speaks to the challenge actors face in creating believable emotional worlds while maintaining personal boundaries. Beyond acting, the quote also resonates with broader truths about human connection and emotional presence: to truly communicate love, in any context, one must allow oneself to feel it—if only for a moment, and only where it belongs.
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