Ask the Flying Monkey (August 27, 2008)

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Count me as another who felt Julie Andrews should have been cast in the film role. The producers obviously wanted Audrey Hepburn's looks for the film and didn't think Julie Andrews was a big enough name or photogenic enough for such a high profile film role, despite being the first choice of Rex Harrison (Henry Higgins) and lyricist Alan Jay Lerner. As for your comment that JA's interpretation was "too stagey", well, that's why the film has a director too. Stage productions are frequently more "over-the-top" than the equivalent film version because of the inherent differences of the media. I'm sure she could have adapted to the film role with ease. She certainly wasn't too shabby, or "too stagey" when singing in Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music. Ultimately, I doubt Julie Andrews was too upset at being passed over for the movie version of Eliza Doolittle. She was too busy filming Mary Poppins at the same time and winning the Best Actress Oscar for that role the following year. Audrey Hepburn wasn't even nominated. At the Golden Globes that same year, Andrews beat Hepburn for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Musical/Comedy.The next year, Andrews was nominated for another Oscar for her role as Maria in The Sound of Music but lost out to Julie Christie, though she won the Golden Globe again.

I also love Marni Nixon's vocals in My Fair Lady, though the first time I saw the movie, I didn't know Audrey Hepburn's singing was being dubbed. I've heard Hepburn's own singing on two songs (they're included on the DVD) and they're actually quite good but unfortunately pale next to Nixon's and Andrew's vocals. Interestingly, according to IMDB, parts of Hepburn's own singing were used:

Although her singing was dubbed by Marni Nixon, Audrey Hepburn's singing does actually appear in the form of the first verse of "Just You Wait, Henry Higgins". However, when the song heads into the soprano range (76 seconds in), Nixon takes over vocals. Hepburn sings the last 30 seconds of the song as well as the brief reprise. She also sings the sing-talking parts for "The Rain in Spain". Overall, as Hepburn reportedly said, about 90% of her singing was dubbed. That was far more than what she expected, as she was initially promised that most of her vocals would be used. According to Nixon, Hepburn was upset that she could not play the role vocally, and always blamed herself for that.

During the parts of "Wouldn't It be Loverly" featuring Audrey Hepburn's own singing voice, her lip-syncing does not match her own singing as well as it does Marni Nixon's singing, even though Hepburn filmed the scene with her own track.

A couple more interesting casting factoids I saw on IMDB:

Audrey Hepburn herself revealed years later that had she turned down the role of Eliza, the next actress to be offered it would not have been Julie Andrews but Elizabeth Taylor, who wanted it desperately.

Apparently, Shirley Jones was one of the actresses to whom Jack L. Warner planned to offer the role of Eliza Dolittle if Audrey Hepburn turned it down.

Considering the fact the NPH has become one of the go guys to sing leading male roles in the Sondheim canon (starring in "Assassins" on Broadway, singing Anthony in the NY Philharmonic "Sweeney Todd" and singing the lead in the first recording of Sonheim's "The Frogs"), I would say that Mr. Harris has more then sufficient cred to be considered for a movie musical... certainly more than Mr. Cooper.

And you should check out the YouTube clip of NMH and his HIMYM costar spontaneously breaking into a duet from Les Mis on the Megan Mullaly show... inspired and hilarious!