The Conversation: Inside the Making of 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'

June 24, 2010— -- Did you know that Truman Capote originally favored Marilyn Monroe to play the leading role in the iconic "Breakfast at Tiffany's" film? Indeed -- Monroe's style and sex appeal drew Capote's interest as he envisioned the film's main character. After all, in Capote's book the leading lady was a call girl -- rather scandalous, especially in 1958.

Nevertheless, Audrey Hepburn was offered the role of Holly Golightly, and it went on to define Hepburn's career and influence generations of movie watchers to come.

Author Sam Wasson went back to the beginning, behind the scenes, to tell the story of how the film's author, actress, director and other principals each shaped the movie. Wasson's book, "Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast At Tiffany's, And The Dawn Of The Modern Woman," traces the film from its infancy -- offering an inside track on how ideas became a movie.

Wasson says Hepburn suggested she eat ice cream, not a Danish, as her character stepped out of a taxi and onto Fifth Avenue, gazing up into the windows of Tiffany's. She also insisted on wearing a gown from Givenchy, catapulting the designer into the upper echelons of society.

In today's Conversation, ABC's Stephanie Sy talks with Wasson about his book, and what really happened behind the scenes of "Breakfast at Tiffany's."

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