MovieChat Forums > The Aviator (2004) Discussion > Hepburn Role Was Horrible

Hepburn Role Was Horrible


Great movie. In fact, one of the best in my opinion. But that portrayal of Katherine Hepburn was horrible. I was so happy when they passed that point. Hughes would've ordered 200 reels to fix that annoyance!

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I respectfully disagree. I thought she nailed the role. Maybe you just don't appreciate Katherine Hepburn. By the way, and not that it matters as you are clearly entitled to your opinion however Blanchett won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance. Anyway it was a brilliant film and for the record, I also enjoyed the woman who played Ava Gardner.

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I found it over-the-top. It was very grating on the ears. Perhaps I need to google some Hepburn performances and listen.

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Dunno how accurate of a portrayal it was to the real Hepburn but my god her voice and inflection and mannerisms were annoying. Did men actually find that attractive back then?

Everytime she spoke I imagined as if she should be wearing a comically oversized pinstripe suit and hat with a Groucho moustache and cigar, playing a man in an old slapstick comedy and saying "YA SEE?" after everything. Don't wanna imagine what she'd sound like in bed...

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Don't wanna imagine what she'd sound like in bed...



Dana Carvey has a funny bit about that.

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That's a good way to put it, the portrayal was typically overblown Blanchett, more like an SNL skit version of the person rather than authentic performance - it's no surprise it was favourite for the awards, just a standard Oscarbait role. Hepburn was a notorious bulldyke and her public persona was her greatest performance, but this film needed to spread across the award categories as much as possible so it square-pegged her into a romantic interest whereas in reality Hughes was too fastidious to be attracted to her. Just the typical formulaic biopic designed around award night clips.

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I read she was bi, but the actress did a great job.

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It seemed more like a lampoon of Katherine Hepburn than a serious portrayal.

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It was slightly over-the-top, yes.

The thing is, that voice was kind of Hepburn's tradmark, but she didn't have it at this age! It came when she was older, maybe because of smoking or something, Idk. But if you see her earlier (less famous) movies, from the period she's supposed to portray here, she doesn't sound like that.

It's a disctractingly unnatural voice on a young woman.

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"The best fairytale is one where you believe the people" -Irvin Kershner

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She was beautiful and smart.

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Watching it now and came here to complain about this very thing. It's like a parody. Not even a parody of Hepburn but a parody of a Hepburn performance.

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Have any of you seen early Katherine Hepburn films, like The Philadelphia Story or Bringing Up Baby? She talks exactly as Cat B. did in The Aviator. Kate nailed the role.

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She did get an Oscar (Blanchett , I mean. Hepburn herself got 4 - more than any other actor ever).

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I thought she was great and made it seem like Kate was really "The One" for HH.

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She was TERRIBLE! Over the top and exaggerated to the point of parody! This is the first time I've seen her role all the way through, and she was SO bad that I'm currently re-evaluating my opinion of her professional abilities (high, but not as high as it was).


The thing is, she had to have deliberately chosen to be that over-the-top. Anyone can watch Katherine Hepburn films and interviews and get a look at the real woman at work or being herself, I have and I assume Blanchette did as well. And yet, she chose to play things big, unnaturally big. I suppose they thought it'd work better than anything realistic, and I can't agree.

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Hepburn, both young and old, had a uniquely irritating voice and manner of speaking. Blanchette nailed it.

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