Audrey Hepburn's Supporting Roles: 4 Times The Star Shined Without Being Lead Actress

She's known as the leading lady in many iconic films, but a true star shines, even in the most unlikely of places, and that's exactly what Audrey Hepburn did.

It was in insignificant roles, sometimes delivering mere one-liners that Hepburn won over studio executives to land the bigger roles that catapulted her to becoming the quintessential leading lady.

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Here are four films where she wasn't the lead, but managed to shine anyway.

1. Stewardess, "Dutch in Seven Lessons" (1948)

This Charles Huguenot van de Linden and Heinz Josephson directed comedy starred Sanny Day, Pia Beck, and Wam Heskes. Hepburn's debut role as a stewardess was a small one, but she captured the attention of industry execs, and though still an unknown, she landed her first leading role just three years later in the Broadway hit, "Gigi."

2. Chorus Girl, "High Button Shoes" (1948)

She had only one line in the 1948 musical directed by George Abbott, but Hepburn obviously proved herself worthy of delivering it. That's because of the 1,000 who try out for the chorus line of "High Button Shoes," Hepburn is one of only 10 to get the job. The show ran for 291 performances. Hepburn is noticed and cast for another small role in the 1949 play "Sauce Tartare," and later a more significant role when the play is refreshed as "Sauce Piquante."

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3. Nora Brent, "The Secret People" (1951)

Hepburn utilizes her dance background for her first major supporting role. In the Thorold Dickinson-directed film "The Secret People," Hepburn plays a ballerina and the younger sister of Maria Brentano's character Valentina Cortese, the film's lead, who, to avenge her father's death, becomes involved in an assassination plot. Hepburn's performance leads to an offer for her next role, which then leads to her first leading role in the Broadway's "Gigi."

4. Hap, "Always" (1989)

After an extended period away from acting while working as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Hepburn agrees to a cameo role in what would be her last screen performance, Stephen Spielberg's "Always," a romantic adventure that stars Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter, John Goodman, and Brad Johnson. In Hepburn's final role, she is not leading, nor is she even supporting. It's a cameo appearance as a supernatural barber.

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