Pretty Woman Turns 25: Here Are 15 Things You Never Knew About the Film Inline
Photo: Courtesy of © Buena Vista Pictures1/15That’s not Julia Roberts’s body on the poster.
The film’s iconic poster, on which a scantily clad Roberts is grabbings Gere by the necktie, was actually a clever work of Photoshop. Shelley Michelle, Roberts’s body double in the film, was the one striking a pose; Roberts’s head was later superimposed.
Photo: Courtesy of © Buena Vista Pictures/Everett Collection2/15The film was initially called $3,000, and it was much darker.
The title, a reference to how much Edward paid Vivian to be his escort, wasn’t the only difference about the original script. While the premise was the same, $3,000 was supposed to be a comment on Los Angeles’s prostitution scene in the late eighties and early nineties. Roberts described the initial plot as “a really dark and depressing, horrible, terrible story about two horrible people and my character was this drug addict . . . and it was just a grisly, ugly story about these two people.”
Photo: Courtesy of © Buena Vista Pictures/Everett Collection3/15The role of Vivian Ward was originally offered to Molly Ringwald.
During a Reddit AMA, Ringwald said: “I think I saw an early draft and it was called $3,000. I don't specifically remember turning it down. The script was okay, but I gotta say, Julia Roberts is what makes that movie. It was her part. Every actor hopes for a part that lets them shine like that.”
Photo: Getty Images4/15Al Pacino turned down the role of Edward Lewis.
After the success of The Godfather, Pacino was offered many roles—including a part in Apocalypse Now and Die Hard, which he also turned down.
Photo: Courtesy of © Buena Vista Pictures/Everett Collection5/15Gere improvised closing the jewelry box on Roberts’s hand.
But it was so adorable that the filmmakers decided to leave it in the final cut.
Photo: Courtesy of © Buena Vista Pictures/Photofest6/15Vivian’s necklace was custom-made for the film.
French jeweler Fred Joaillier designed the necklace, which was made from 18K white gold, diamonds, and rubies. In the movie, Edward tells Vivian the necklace costs “a quarter of a million dollars.”
Photo: Courtesy of © Buena Vista Pictures7/15Gere is really playing piano in the film.
A self-taught musician, Gere reportedly composed the song for the movie as well.
Photo: Courtesy of © Buena Vista Pictures/Photofest8/15A line from the movie is an Easter egg in The Princess Diaries.
During the dinner scene in which Roberts memorably flings her escargot across the restaurant, the waiter comforts her, saying, “It happens all the time.” Director Garry Marshall cast the same actor, Allan Kent, in 2001’s The Princess Diaries and gave him the same line.
Photo: Courtesy of © Buena Vista Pictures/Photofest9/15The opera Edward took Vivian to was La Traviata.
Verdi’s La Traviata, the story of a Parisian courtesan who fell for a wealthy man, was an apt choice for Vivian’s first opera.
Photo: Courtesy of © Buena Vista Pictures/Photofest10/15Vivian’s opera dress almost wasn’t red.
Costume designer Marilyn Vance told Elle in 2010: “The studio really wanted black, but I knew it needed to be red. Before the decision was made, we ended up having to create three different dresses. We took every color, lit it, and shot her. Poor Julia had to sit for so many color test shots for that one dress. Finally, I was able to find the right shade and convince everyone to go [in] my direction.”
Photo: Courtesy of © Buena Vista Pictures/Everett Collection11/15Garry Marshall, not I Love Lucy, made Julia Roberts laugh.
During the scene in which Vivian was watching an episode of I Love Lucy, Marshall tickled Robert’s feet to elicit that infectious laugh.
Photo: Courtesy of © Buena Vista Pictures/Everett Collection12/15Julia Roberts was very nervous during the love scene.
The actress got so flustered that a vein protruded from her forehead; Marshall and Gere had to massage it until it went away.
Photo: Courtesy of © Buena Vista Pictures13/15Pretty Woman gave Hank Azaria his first speaking role in a film.
He played a police detective.
Photo: Courtesy of © Buena Vista Pictures14/15Ferrari and Porsche declined to have their cars in the film.
Reportedly, neither brand wanted to be associated with prostitution. (Big mistake. Big. Huge!) Lotus Cars UK seized the opportunity, and the company saw its sales triple between 1990 and 1991.
Photo: Courtesy of © Buena Vista Pictures/Photofest15/15Richard Gere said Pretty Woman was his “least favorite” movie.
Shattering hearts everywhere, Gere revealed in 2012 that he was not the biggest fan of the film. “People ask me about [it], but I've forgotten it. That was a silly romantic comedy.”
