HOLLYWOOD NEAR-MISS THAT NETTED A PRETTY PENNY
As the rom com turns 30, we reveal Julia Roberts had a crush on Richard Gere, begging him to take the role, and how the unlikely hit movie nearly didn’t get made at all
Improvising, Roberts instead blew her nose on the handkerchief, which the manager coolly insisted she keep.
Roberts later confessed she thought her ad-lib was “disgusting” and hoped it would be cut, but the scene stayed in the finished film.
Gere had not told Roberts he was going to snap shut the jewellery box on her fingers as he presented her with a diamond necklace, prompting her genuine laugh of surprise.
The necklace in 18k white gold with 23 pear-cut rubies from French jeweller Fred Joaillier, worth $250,000, required its own armed security guard while on set.
Getting a laugh out of Roberts wasn’t always that easy, however. The actress struggled to produce natural laughter in a scene where Vivian watches the I Love Lucy TV show, prompting director Marshall to tickle her feet off screen to elicit the desired giggles.
When Edward sits down to play the hotel piano, that’s Gere at the keyboard, an accomplished pianist playing a tune he composed.
But unscripted isn’t always better.
When Edward and his attorney got into a fight, their play acting was so rough that Gere had the crown on a tooth knocked loose.
Also unplanned was a blooper that remains in the film: Vivian is eating a croissant for breakfast in her hotel suite when the camera cuts away to Edward. When the camera returns to Vivian moments later she’s inexplicably munching on a pancake instead.
The film was also shot on a tight budget, so for the scene when Edward takes Vivian to the opera they deliberately arrive late, “so they didn’t have to have a lobby of fancy-dressed people in the shot,” says Barbara Marshall. “If they were late... you don’t have to pay extras that day.”
Ferrari and Porsche both declined to lend cars to the movie for Edward to drive, reluctant to be associated with prostitution.
Lotus offered their Esprit, and saw sales triple after the film’s debut.
The Beverly Wilshire Hotel, which allowed filming inside and out, also received a boost, even offering guests a £77,000 “Pretty Woman Experience” including a chauffeur, a couple’s massage, and a Rodeo Drive shopping spree.
Pretty Woman went on to become one of the most successful rom-coms ever, earning £395million, and 30 years later remains one of the best-loved.