Pretty amazing
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A NEW Pretty Woman musical has opened in London to the delight of fans of the original film.
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The blockbuster movie starred heart-throb Richard Gere and launched the career of Julia Roberts – and is still hugely popular 30 years on. Here NADINE LINGE reveals 12 fairytale Pretty Woman facts.
The film was originally set
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to be a dark drama called 3000, after the amount Edward (Richard Gere) pays Vivian (Julia Roberts). In it, she was a drug addict and Edward didn’t fall in love with her at the end but chucked her out of his car and drove off.
While the poster is one of
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Hollywood’s most iconic, it actually featured Roberts’s head superimposed on to her body double for the film, Shelley Michelle. Gere’s hair is also black and it’s grey in the film.
Neither Ferrari nor Porsche
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wanted their cars used in the film – they did not want to be associated with picking up hookers. Instead, Edward is attempting to drive a Lotus when he meets Vivian.
In the scene where Gere
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plays the piano, the actor is playing the instrument for real – and composed the piece.
During the scene where
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Vivian is lying on the floor of Edward’s penthouse, watching repeats of I Love Lucy, director Garry Marshall had to tickle Roberts’s feet to get her to laugh.
Edward and Vivian go to the
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opera to see La Traviata, which is about a prostitute who falls in love with a wealthy man.
The scene where Edward
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flips the necklace box down on Vivian’s fingers like it is biting her was improvised by Gere. And Roberts’s surprised laugh is genuine.
The necklace itself was so
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valuable (£200,000) that the jewellery shop which provided it sent its own security guard to stand next to director Marshall during filming.
John Travolta auditioned
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for the part of Edward while Al Pacino and Burt Reynolds turned it down. Those also considered included Christopher Reeve, Denzel Washington and Daniel Day-Lewis.
Eighties
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favourite Molly Ringwald turned down the part of Vivian because she was uneasy playing a prostitute, while Daryl Hannah felt it was degrading to women. Winona Ryder auditioned but was rejected for being too young.
Roberts was so nervous
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about the sex scenes, a vein popped out on her forehead. It had to be massaged away by Gere and director Marshall. Deleted scenes
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include Vivian putting ketchup on her posh steak meal, a romantic sunset horse ride and a scene where Edward nearly gets into a fight with a gang who were trying to take drug money from Vivian.
● To buy tickets go to prettywomanthemusical.com