Despite having the risqué premise of a man falling in love with a prostitute, Pretty Woman became a runaway box office hit in 1990 and is easily one of the most beloved romantic comedies ever made. Richard Gere and Julia Roberts emerged as a popular on-screen pairing, and went on to reunite in subsequent projects.
Pretty Woman had a long road from a darkly themed script about the class divide in Los Angeles to a mainstream Hollywood romcom, under the close guidance of director Garry Marshall and his cast and crew. So, here are 10 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Pretty Woman.
Julia Roberts Convinced Richard Gere To Take His Part
When Julia Roberts met Richard Gere, it was clear immediately that the two shared chemistry that could make for a great movie. However, Gere wasn’t interested in starring in Pretty Woman.
Roberts really wanted him to do it, so she convinced him to take the role. He got on the phone, ready to turn down the offer, and she slid him a Post-It note that said, “Please say yes,” and when the producers answered on the other end of the call, he accepted the part.
The Necklace Was Actually Worth $250,000
The necklace featured prominently in the movie is said to be worth $250,000. The crew didn’t just get a cheap prop made of plastic; they got a real necklace that actually cost $250,000.
It was deemed to be so expensive that it was accompanied by an armed guard at all times on the set. If anyone tried to steal it, this guard was authorized to draw their gun. So, it was a pretty valuable necklace.
Garry Marshall Re-Edited The Movie To Include A Christmas Song He Liked
When Per Gessle was planning a tour to promote his band Roxette’s new album, Look Sharp!, he was asked to write a song for a movie that was, at the time, called $3,000, but would later be retitled Pretty Woman. He turned down the offer because he didn’t have time to write a theme, but he did offer them a Christmas song called “It Must Have Been Love (Christmas for the Broken-Hearted).”
Director Garry Marshall enjoyed the song so much that he re-edited the whole movie to be able to include it (albeit replacing “hard Christmas day” with “hard winter’s day” in the lyrics).
Richard Gere Did His Own Piano-Playing For The Movie
In the scene in which Edward plays the piano, Richard Gere actually did his own piano-playing. And not only that, he composed the piece of music that Edward plays.
The sex scene that follows is fake, of course, and the sound of their bodies mangling the keys as they jump up on the piano had to be dubbed in during post-production. The sound that they actually made was so horrible and distorted that it was unusable.
Julia Roberts’ Face Is Superimposed On Someone Else’s Body On The Poster
Pretty Woman’s iconic poster was one of the first rom-com posters to have the two leads playfully leaning against each other, a formula that Hollywood would beat to death throughout the 2000s. As famous as this poster has become, it’s full of lies.
Julia Roberts appears as Vivian’s head on the poster, but not her body. Roberts’ face was superimposed on the body of Shelley Michelle. Also, Richard Gere’s hair is gray in the movie, but it’s dyed black in the poster.
Some Pretty Awesome Scenes Got Cut
When Garry Marshall and his editors Raja Gosnell and Priscilla Nedd were piecing together Pretty Woman, some great scenes ended up on the cutting room floor.
These include a romantic horseback ride set against the backdrop of a sunset, Vivian squeezing packets of ketchup onto a ludicrously expensive steak, and Edward almost getting into a fight with some gangsters who try to take drug money from Vivian.
Sylvester Stallone Turned Down The Role Of Edward
Before Richard Gere was cast to play Edward, the role was turned down by Sylvester Stallone and Albert Brooks. Other actors who were considered for the part before Gere came on board included Harrison Ford, Danny Glover, Denzel Washington, and Bruce Campbell.
Uma Thurman reportedly auditioned to play Vivian, and Jennifer Connelly and Sandra Bullock turned down the role before it was offered to Julia Roberts. The studio didn’t want Roberts; they wanted Meg Ryan instead. Al Pacino got as far as a screen test with Roberts before rejecting the role of Edward.
The Original Script Was Much Darker
Pretty Woman was originally written as a dark drama about the class divide, and the sex trade in Los Angeles called $3,000 (in reference to the amount of money that Edward offers Vivian for the week). When the film had this darker tone, Werner Herzog was approached to direct, but turned down the job.
One of the subplots that got scrapped was Vivian’s cocaine addiction. One of Edward’s conditions would be that she couldn’t do drugs during her week with him, and at the end of the week, she’d come home to find that Kit had overdosed while she was with Edward.
Drew Barrymore And Winona Ryder Were Deemed Too Young To Play Vivian
Both Drew Barrymore and Winona Ryder were interested in auditioning to play Vivian in Pretty Woman, but director Garry Marshall deemed them both too young for the role. Ryder was 19 at the time of shooting, while Barrymore was just 14 years old.
The age difference between the characters was big enough already: Richard Gere was 40 at the time of shooting, while Julia Roberts was 22. That’s already pretty uncomfortable, but Vivian being any younger would’ve been even worse.
Richard Gere Improvised Snapping The Necklace Case Shut
One of the most iconic moments in Pretty Woman sees Richard Gere snapping a necklace case shut as Julia Roberts reaches into it. It’s been parodied over and over again since the movie first hit theaters. This moment wasn’t in the script; Gere improvised it.
That’s why Roberts’ reaction – initial shock, followed by laughter – is so genuine (and her authentic reaction is arguably what made the moment so memorable in the first place).