Picture of Audrey Hepburn

Audrey Hepburn and Peter O’Toole enjoying a tea break during the production of How to Steal a Million, Paris, 1965. Audrey and Peter got on like a house on fire.

Audrey Hepburn was known for hosting a formal tea service during her down time on set. As recounted by biographer Barry Paris, while on set of Wait Until Dark, Audrey Hepburn insisted on preparing a formal tea break everyday at four. For each guest Audrey would scoop one spoonful of tea into a tea pot and let it steep for ten minutes. Here is a quote from director Terence Young explaining how it came about:

“Originally I had arranged for tea to be brought on the set for myself. Audrey said she would like tea as well, because the coffeemaker on the set got a little tired by the end of the day. The next stage was that Audrey bought a couple of mugs and hand-painted on them THE TOFF, which is what she had nicknamed me, and AUD for herself. Charles Lang, the cameraman, told us he much preferred tea, so a day later he joined the gang with his own mug. Richard Crenna and Jack Weston asked why they were being treated as second-class citizens and said they, too, wanted tea, which I’m sure they hated, but it was all part of the fooling around that went on off the set, which I strongly encouraged.”