Julie Andrews reflects on My Fair Lady career milestone

Dame Julie Andrews, now 90, reflected on her career-defining role as Eliza Doolittle in the musical My Fair Lady. She recalled auditioning for writer Alan Jay Lerner at age 20, noting the difficulty of the role which required transitioning between a Cockney accent and pure singing.

Following her performances on Broadway and in London, Andrews was famously passed over for the film adaptation in favor of Audrey Hepburn. The discussion coincides with Opera Australia’s upcoming 2026 production of the musical, which is based on George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion.