'Breakfast at Tiffany's:' Five Things You Didn't Know

Oct. 5, 2011 — -- intro: Five decades after Holly Golightly strolled down Fifth Avenue sipping coffee and nibbling on a pastry, so many fans still want "Breakfast at Tiffany's."

Ahead of the 50th anniversary of the iconic romantic comedy, ABCNews.com talked with Sam Wasson, author of "Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, 'Breakfast at Tiffany's,' and the Dawn of the Modern Woman" to find out five little known facts about Audrey Hepburn's most memorable movie.

Bonus: We paired the text with never-before-seen photos from the forthcoming book "Breakfast at Tiffany's: The Official 50th Anniversary Companion," due out Oct. 19.

Click through to find out who was originally slated to play Holly Golightly, why the movie almost didn't get made, and more.

quicklist: 1title: Holly Golightly Was Supposed to be … text: "Marilyn Monroe," said Wasson. "She was Truman Capote's first choice. Another thing you may not know is the reason Marilyn didn't take the part is because Paula Strasberg, her advisor and acting coach, said Marilyn should not be playing a lady of the evening. That's interesting in light of how we think of Holly, we don't think of her as that risque." media: 14666490

quicklist: 2title: Why 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' Almost Didn't Get Madetext: "Paramount was originally reluctant to make the movie," Wasson said. "It didn't seem like a good idea. It wasn't, really -- a gay protagonist, no love story, and really no central conflict in the novel. So the ending that exists is director Blake Edwards' rewrite but the original ending, closer to Capote's novel, was much more downbeat. It doesn't have that same classic Hollywood romantic consummation with the kiss. It's more of a question of what's going to happen to these two people." media: 14664947

quicklist: 3title: Holly Golightly's True Callingtext: "The No. 1 thing [people don't know] is that Holly Golightly was a call girl," Wasson said. "It shows you how strong the Audrey persona is -- that here, 50 years later, we still don't want to believe that's what her character was. I always tell people if they don't get that, don't be ashamed. The movie has coded it. Truman Capote was a little coy about it in the book, and later in life he said, 'She wasn't just a call girl, she had a few call girl proclivities.' But she parties with men for a living. Obviously there's more to it than simply the party. That's her livelihood." media: 14665114

quicklist: 4title: Why Holly Golightly Wore Blacktext: "You see Holly in a little black dress in a time of florals and chintz and big, bold colors -- that's a hint at what she's doing at night," Wasson said. "That turned into a kind of symbol of sophistication. It's low maintenence. If you're a girl with a busy life, it's convenient. You don't have the time to deal with the whole '50s woman uniform." media: 14665073

quicklist: 5title: Why Holly Golightly and Paul Varjak Had to Kiss at the Endtext: "If it ended without a big romantic moment, then there would be no hope that these two people would get married," Wasson said. "The kiss was in itself a kind of apology. It meant that these two people were going to reform. But if you look at the book, that's not where they were headed." media: 14664975