She miscarried twice, almost gave up her career for the sake of her children, and then experienced the betrayal of her lover, and chose to be patient for the integrity of her family, and two relationships of more than 10 years ended in divorce.
She's Audrey Hepburn. In her, the word "perfect" we see most often is concerned with everything she has: beauty, elegance, career, wealth, peace, fashion, charity...
How did Hepburn grow into a determined, confident and peaceful woman? And how did you achieve your brilliant life?
Hepburn's childhood dream was to become the principal female ballet dancer of the ballet. She began practicing ballet at a very young age, even during the war. As soon as the war was over, she returned to London to continue studying with mary lambert, the world's famous ballet teacher.
One day, Audrey Hepburn asked the teacher if she would have a chance to become a principal ballet dancer if she continued to train to enhance her skills.
Mary replied very earnestly: "You are one of my best students, but you have missed the best age to practice ballet, and no matter how hard you try in training, the movements that have been fixed will basically not change." Also, you're too tall for male ballet dancers to have the strength to perform the most basic lifting moves. ”
Therefore, Mary suggested that it might be better for her to choose to be a second female ballet dancer. You can also work part-time as a teacher in a ballet school, and the extra income will make your life better. ”
"But what about my dreams?" Hit so hard, young Audrey couldn't help screaming. The war was too cruel for this hopeful girl, and prolonged starvation affected the development of her muscles. Compared to the girls who could maintain a normal life during the war while continuing to maintain normal ballet training, she was indeed not competitive, and it was arguably the war that shattered her dreams.
She once said: "I will never forget that day, back to the dormitory, unmotivated for the future, just want to lie in bed and wait to die." The passion that kept her alive in times of war and hunger vanished. Life still had to go on, and she began to look for a job to settle down.
She joined a concert hall choir, where she was dug up and made to the screen, leading to more and more heavyweight films and roles...
Although being an actress was only her second choice, a helpless choice, for her, it was the same as ballet dancing, with the principles that must be followed: hard work, discipline and professionalism. Perhaps, in addition to luck, this is also the most important factor in her success.
She always felt that she was too thin, always felt that her nose was not straight enough, her feet were too big, her slender neck and the scars on her neck, her oversized shoulders, her protruding collarbone, and these so-called "defects" had become fashionable at that time. Her flat shoes, three-quarter sleeves, a tight waist, a jumper with a stand-up collar, exaggerated black sunglasses... She is always in the focus of the times and has become a symbol of the fashion industry.
Hubert Givenchy was her dress designer, and together the two created an aesthetic taste of Audrey Hepburn. She regarded his clothing as a beautiful vase that could make ordinary flowers in the field more beautiful; while he regarded his clothes as ordinary vases, which only stood out against the natural beauty of flowers.
As a result of their collaboration, she was always regarded as the most elegant and tasteful woman in the world. In fact, this elegance comes from the values of the two people's hearts, which are not deliberately created, but due to the natural expression of humble character.
When first discovered by a well-known director to play the main character of "Kiki" on Broadway, Audrey Hepburn completely rejected it, because she felt that she could not act at all, and she just wanted to get married quickly, have her own children, become a mother, and finally become a housewife. But she had a strong mother who asked her to try.
At the urging of everyone, she reluctantly accepted the role. But she still insisted that the director's judgment was wrong. Then, the success of "Kiki" also allowed her to be discovered again, and there was the later "Roman Holiday" and her Oscar for Best Actress.
"Breakfast at Tiffany'" is the most attended of all Audrey Hepburn films, but when the screenwriter asked her to play this role, Audrey refused, ostensibly because the role is related to sex, and the deeper reason is that she does not know whether she is competent, she is afraid of the role, she does not know whether the hangover, rage, depression written in the script can be expressed.
But at the same time, she also knew that as an actress, she needed to take this step towards the new Audrey. And in the end, it turns out that she did.
There will always be some unexpected gifts in life, and with an open mind to accept, you will reap unexpected surprises.
For her life, the biggest impact should be the departure of her father when she was 6 years old. Father, the man she complained about throughout World War II, was attacked by the most venomous words, complaining about his non-farewell, complaining that he had not fulfilled the slightest responsibility of fatherhood. Therefore, she always felt that she had to see this man in person.
However, 20 years later, when she really saw her father, she did not have the slightest resentment, but went forward to embrace the old man. She understood that her heart knot had been untied, and there was no point in what kind of person her father really was.
Since then, she has been financially supporting her father's life and supporting the elderly, because she has her own principles: everyone should do what they should do, no matter how much she has been hurt.
Why is it that her father has the deepest influence on her? Because her two marriages seemed to have stemmed from the same dynamic, the first with Mel Ferret, the second with André Dotty, it looked like a continuation.
Both men had emotional childhood scars, and both had a strong mother, talented and controlling, but neither was good at communicating with their children, which in that era directly affected their lives, education, and perception of their social roles.
Audrey, on the other hand, also has a strong mother, and her parents closed their feelings for her at a very young age. Although the father speaks 13 languages, he cannot say "I love you" to his children and can never communicate well with his children.
"Emotional hunger" is something food can't alleviate, and in her years at UNICEF, Audrey Hepburn always described children in need. Overall, Ferret and Dotty are in the same category. Perhaps because she had suffered the same experience, out of an instinctive desire, she wanted to share it with her husband, and at the same time hoped to work together to make up for this broken blood bond.
So, even though her husband embarrassed her in public in the latter part of her first marriage, she still smiled at each other, and she still wanted to think endlessly about the good, wanted to give continuously, and hoped that the marriage could last. When she found herself powerless to help these men, it brought deep disappointment.
The first marriage ended, 6 weeks later, she entered another marriage, even in the face of each other's frequent infidelity, Hepburn, who immediately after the second marriage for 7 years, still insisted on 11 years, and in each marriage, she was working hard to devote herself to and love each other wholeheartedly.
"Love is an action." She later said to her son, "Love is not just about sitting down and talking, it's never been. "It's a truth. She added, "We are born with the ability to love, but we also have to exercise it, just like we exercise other muscles." ”
She was disappointed by the failure of her two marriages, but her relationship with Robert rekindled her hope for life, and it was this relationship that inspired her to face the world's unfortunate children and the hard work of UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors. Maybe she thought that if she couldn't heal the so-called adult trauma, maybe she could help the child.
In the book Angels on Earth, written by Audrey Hepburn's son, she describes: "I remember that after I went to school, she was more nervous and anxious than I was before each exam. The day before the exam, she would ask me all the questions before I went to bed, and then come back the next day when I got up, even if it made her sleepy. My mother stopped making movies since I started studying because I needed to go to class on time and couldn't go to see her while she was filming. My mother made the same choice when my brother Luca started studying, by which time I had already left home to go to boarding school. ”
For the love of children, the mothers of the world are so similar.
"I had to make an important decision in my life." Audrey said in an interview in March 1988, "Give up on movies or give up on my kids." It was a very easy decision for me because I miss my kids very, very much. When my eldest son was studying, I couldn't take him with me as I usually did when I was filming, which was a very distressing thing for me, so I decided to stop filming for a while, and I was willing to go home and be with the children, which made me very happy. Instead of sitting alone in an empty house in a daze, one biting his nails in a daze, in fact, like other mothers, I was proud of my two sons. ”
She will be the best friend of the child when she takes her child to buy books or soccer boots, and most importantly, she makes the child realize how important she is to her. Although her childhood was not filled with love, this did not affect her from giving full love to her children, and even more children.
At the age of 63, she entered her fifth year at UNICEF. Often adapting to the changing jet lag, constantly traveling to various countries, fundraising activities, interviews, and child care, all of this is very harmful to her, but she enjoys it.
She had been asked why she had spared no effort to do so when much of her misfortune was in fact the result of years of conquest between the local government and the opposition, and that these political problems could not be solved by UNICEF.
She always had only one answer to similar questions: "It's like sitting in your living room and suddenly hear a terrible scream from the street, followed by the violent impact of the car, your heart seems to have been hit by a strong impact, you jump out of your chair, run to the street, and find a child hit by a car, lying in a pool of blood." 」 You don't stop to think about who's wrong, whether the driver's car is driving too fast, or whether the child suddenly rushes onto the road and chases his ball. At this time, all you should do is pick up the child and take him to the hospital quickly. ”
She always said, "Peace should be a lesson for us to learn well." Also on November 1 of the same year, cancer occurred in her abdominal cavity, and she had developed cancer about five years earlier. By December 1, her body was already very emaciated, and her clothes had completely wrapped her up. For the first time, with tears in her eyes, she showed fear in front of her son, and she said to the child, "I am very afraid." The child held her as hard as she could, and at this moment, the roles of the parent and the child were reversed, and Audrey's heart was also nourished by the child's strength.
In the last two months of the doctors' determination that they were powerless, in the face of the verdict of life, all they did was to express their love for each other, and every day seemed so precious and dedicated, because every day could be the last day, and every moment could be the last moment.
At the end, when she was about to leave, the child asked her: Are you afraid? She shook her head and said, "I'm really happy." When the child asked her why, her answer was simple: Because this time I am sure, I am sure that you love me.
Sam Levenson, a teacher, writer and famous humorist, once wrote a poem for her. She loved it, and she read the poem for the last time on Christmas that year she left, and she gave it its name: the secret to eternal beauty.
The charm of the lips lies in the kind and friendly language.
Cute eyes, be good at seeing the advantages of others.
Slim figure, willing to share food with hungry people.
Beautiful hair, because every day there are children's fingers through it.
Graceful gestures, sources and knowledge go hand in hand.
The reason why people are human is that they must be full of energy, self-reflection, self-renewal, and self-growth;
Rather than complaining to others.
Remember, if you need help, use your hands well from now on.
As you grow older, you will find that you have two hands, one to help yourself and one to help others.
Your "good golden years" are still ahead of you, I hope you can have it!
On the last days of her life, she said: "I have no regrets,...... I just don't understand why so many children are suffering. ”
She has experienced being abandoned by her father, starving, and the smoke and smoke; she has also experienced the shattering of dreams, the broken dreams of love, and the failure of marriage; however, all of this has not become a reason for her to give up her life, but has further promoted her to move forward bravely and hard.
If there must be a reason why she is popular, it must be her inner light!
Bravery, tenacity, and peace became synonymous with her.
Her life is like a tree growing on the dark side, although it can't see the sun, its branches will still grow in the direction of the sun. For Hepburn, her inner desire to be hugged turned into love and support for others, which is why she is actively involved in charity and helping more children.