EMMA THOMPSON SLATES AUDREY HEPBURN'S ACTING

Emma Thompson can't wait to see Audrey Hepburn replaced in her remake of My Fair Lady because she's unimpressed with the star's singing and acting.

Emma Thompson is currently drafting a screenplay for the upcoming reworking of the 1964 musical in which Audrey Hepburn played Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle.

And the Brit plans to give her script a feminist makeover - because she couldn't stand Audrey Hepburn's "twee" portrayal of such an "extraordinary role".

She says, "I was thrilled to be asked to do it because, having a look at it, I thought that there needs to be a new version. I'm not hugely fond of the film. I find Audrey Hepburn fantastically twee.

"Twee is whimsy without wit. It's mimsy-mumsy sweetness without any kind of bite. And that's not for me. She can't sing and she can't really act, I'm afraid. I'm sure she was a delightful woman - and perhaps if I had known her I would have enjoyed her acting more, but I don't and I didn't, so that's all there is to it, really.

"It was (costumer) Cecil Beaton's designs and (Hepburn's co-star) Rex Harrison that gave it its extraordinary quality. I don't do Audrey Hepburn. I think that she's a guy thing... It's high time that the extraordinary role of Eliza was reinterpreted, because it's a very fantastic part for a woman."

An Education star Carey Mulligan has been tipped to take on the role of Doolittle.