Audrey Hepburn saw herself as 'farmer' over movie star, protected kids from paparazzi

Luca Dotti didn’t realize his mother was an icon until her good pal, Hubert de Givenchy, told him so.

"I remember he wrote to me and said, ‘Remember, your mother is an icon,’" the son of Audrey Hepburn told Fox News Digital.

"In those days, my mother gave us a very normal upbringing. That’s what she wanted for us," the 54-year-old shared. 

"She stopped making movies when my brother Sean was about five years old. She wanted to be present as he went to school. By the time I was born … she was already a full-time mom. And remember, there was no Instagram, Facebook or anything like that to show me that she was an icon. She was just my mother. I didn’t have that concept that she was an icon until her death."

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Audrey Hepburn starred in numerous hit films like "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (pictured here). (Donaldson Collection/Michael Ochs Archives)

Dotti and Meghan Friedlander teamed up to write "Audrey Hepburn in Paris," which explores how the Hollywood star shined brightly on the City of Light with her timeless style. It features hundreds of never-before-seen photos of the "Breakfast at Tiffany’s" leading lady, who died in 1993 at age 63 from cancer.

"A lot of people think my mother was French," said Dotti. "Some people never think of her as half British and Dutch because they connected her to the places that she acted in. But, in reality, I want people to think about Audrey as a happy farmer."

Audrey Hepburn's home in Tolochenaz, Switzerland, where she lived for more than 30 years.  (Christiane Oelrich/picture alliance)

After filming 1967’s "Wait Until Dark," Hepburn called a Swiss lakeside village home, where she raised her two children. Hepburn lived in an 18th-century farmhouse, where she was often spotted in jeans and polo shirts.

Luca Dotti and Meghan Friedlander teamed up to write "Audrey Hepburn in Paris." (Harvest)

"Switzerland was where she could escape from the glamour of Hollywood," said Dotti. "She was just a regular mom who took me to school and looked after me. I was very protected from that world of paparazzi and cameras. It was, to a certain extent, a world that was unfamiliar to me."

But it was Paris she called her "playground," Dotti shared. It was there that she brought many of her popular films to life, including 1957’s "Funny Face" and "Love in the Afternoon." She modeled the finest couture and became a lifelong muse to Givenchy, her confidant.

Audrey Hepburn with French fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy in his workshop in Paris.  (Sunset Boulevard/Corbis)

"Audrey looked like the mannequins of Paris," Friedlander explained to Fox News Digital. "She even went on to influence those mannequins. When she came onto the scene, you could see that more and more of the French couture models were looking like Audrey. There was even one in particular who was essentially her doppelgänger. It was clear that Paris saw her as one of their own. … And from the get-go, her style was purely Parisian. It was a natural instinct.

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Audrey Hepburn filmed many of her films in Paris, including "Funny Face." (Archive Photos)

"Growing up, Audrey had a dancer’s body," Friedlander continued. "It’s something that she carried like one of the French models of her day. … And remember, Christian Dior had come out with ‘The New Look,’ which was all about the cinched waist. 

"Audrey embodied a very different kind of look. She had a slender, delicate figure. And that’s what people were craving at the time. They wanted something fresh, new and exciting. They wanted something that had never been presented to them before. And here was Audrey, whose figure was young, boyish and carefree. She really did change the course of fashion."

Hepburn never lived in Paris but often traveled there to make movies. Dotti said that, for her, Paris represented the ultimate girl’s night out whenever she sought excitement beyond home.

William Holden and Audrey Hepburn on a cruise along the Seine River while in Paris to film "Paris When it Sizzles." (Getty Images)

"As a kid, I would always wonder, ‘Why do we have all of these matches around the house from Paris? We live in Switzerland.’" Dotti recalled. "Her daily life was in the countryside. But when she went to Paris … she would transform into this other nightly creature. She would play with fashion. But she kept those worlds separate. For us, home was Switzerland."

Audrey Hepburn (55), and her son Luca Dotti (14), arriving at Heathrow Airport after a flight from Rome. (PA Images)

Friedlander noted that there’s a good reason Hepburn’s style resonates with fans decades after her death.

"Audrey’s superpower was her authenticity," she explained. "People were glued to that. She was the real deal. She was someone who chose to age gracefully. That’s something you don’t see a lot of today. But, ultimately, Audrey was just someone who was always herself. And even after she won her first Oscar, she never changed. She was a very resilient person, and she was also a very genuine person. She was someone who connected with other people."

Hubert de Givenchy with his close pal Audrey Hepburn in Paris, circa 1991.  (ARNAL/PICOT/Gamma-Rapho)

"My mother didn’t have a double personality," Dotti said. "There was never a moment when someone said, ‘She changed so much after winning an Oscar.’ No, she was still the same woman with hopes and dreams. And that has always been very reassuring for me. … She wasn’t a lioness, but she was just as determined. She was able to jump into anything. My mother was both soft and sincere… And I think that’s a message Hollywood wanted to convey in its films."

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Luca Dotti is determined to keep his mother's legacy alive. (David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images)

Today, Dotti hopes the book will introduce readers to a different side of his mother, one that she kept hidden from even her own children.

Audrey Hepburn, circa 1956. The late actress is still an inspiration in the fashion world today. (Bud Fraker/John Kobal Foundation)

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"My mother didn’t act glamorous," he reflected. "So, I knew very little about the iconic part of my mother. She was just a regular mom to me. … Perhaps this book is a way for me to ask for a little bit of forgiveness in not knowing that part of her life. … I was very happy with the mother I knew. She wasn’t just the little black dress. But I wanted to reconnect with that other side of her, the one that also gave her joy."