Minogue had to stop being 'Kylie'

Kylie Minogue has revealed she had to learn to "stop being Kylie" for her new film role.

The 44-year-old singer and former Neighbours star makes a return to acting in surreal French film Holy Motors.

The actress attended the UK premiere of the film - in which she plays air hostess Eva Grace - with director Leos Carax at London's Curzon Mayfair cinema, looking dazzling in a black sequinned Dolce & Gabbana gown.

Kylie said: "It's good to be acting again. It terrifies me in a completely different way and I almost had to unlearn things that I just do naturally, as being 'Kylie'. So, I think I had extra work to get rid of that and to be believable as this character."

The film, which was the toast of this year's Cannes Film Festival, sees Kylie perform the song Who Were We, written by Carax and The Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon.

She revealed: "It was all done live in the scene. I don't know how many takes we did but it was all done in situ. And I had to find my path to go from speaking to bursting into song, which seems quite odd. And not performing that like I would one of my own songs.

"My voice was more prepared than the rest of me - that's what I do. But the first time I heard the song I was welling up. It's such beautiful song, so I think that aided me."

Denis Lavant stars in the film as Monsieur Oscar who, over the course of a single day, is driven around Paris in his limousine to take on the role of 10 other characters, including a businessman, an assassin, a beggar and a monster. He was unable to attend the screening due to illness.

Holy Motors opens in cinemas on September 28.