Move over, Audrey Hepburn – Pixie Lott is here for Breakfast

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Although it became her defining role, for Audrey Hepburn, playing Truman Capote's famous femme fatale, Holly Golightly, was one of her most challenging. "I'm an introvert," she is quoted as saying. "Playing the extroverted girl was the hardest thing I ever did."

As Breakfast at Tiffany's heads to London's Theatre Royal Haymarket, the play's new star, Pixie Lott, found it rather less difficult to relate to the character. As she researched the role, she describes herself as having "fallen in love".

"She is strong and free-spirited and loses everything – and I lose everything, too," she says of their similarities. They even both live at apartment number two and, in the book, Capote's Golightly has blonde locks like Lott's, not the brunette bouffant of Hepburn's reimagining.

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And it is not just hair colour that's returning the play to its roots – it ditches some of the Hollywood glamour of the famous screen adaptation in favour of a more faithful retelling of the story.

"The goal of this version is to return to the original setting of the novella, which is the New York of World War Two, as well as to resume its tone – still stylish and romantic, yes, but rougher-edged and more candid than people generally remember," says playwright Richard Greenberg, who adapted the story for the stage.

"Capote was a great writer and a natural maker of plots and Breakfast at Tiffany's has a drive that makes it very alluring to dramatise."

Pop star Lott sings and even learned guitar for the role. But Breakfast at Tiffany's allows her to showcase another side. "I always wanted to go back to my acting roots. When I was 15 and in New York, writing for my first album, I went to see the musical Chicago. It was amazing, and Usher was starring in it. It was so inspiring. I thought, 'When I'm older, I want to step out of my comfort zone and broaden my experience,'" she says.

"Alongside music, I've always wanted to be in a play and getting the opportunity to be in one of my all-time favourites and portray this fabulous character is a dream come true."

Breakfast at Tiffany's is at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, London, until 17 September. Buy tickets at The Week