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<\/p>\nPretty Woman is one of those movies I can watch countless times \u2014 it never gets old or boring.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
But considering how many times I\u2019ve seen it, it\u2019s a bit surprising that I\u2019ve never noticed these bloopers and mistakes that tell a different story about the film.Disney changed everything<\/p>\n
Pretty Woman became a romantic comedy that captivated millions and launched Richard Gere and Julia Roberts to superstardom.<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s not how it was supposed to be. The original screenplay was titled 3,000, penned by then-struggling screenwriter J.F. Lawton. The early draft tackled much darker themes about societal disparity and corporate greed.greed.<\/p>\n
Julia Roberts has a drink with Richard Gere in a scene from the film \u2018Pretty Woman\u2019, 1990. (Photo by Buena Vista\/Getty Images)
\nHowever, everything changed when Disney took the reins. The company preferred to downplay the themes of class and sex work in Los Angeles. Instead, Disney gave it a large budget and turned it more into a a romantic comedyAl Pacino turned down the lead role<\/p>\n
For me, it\u2019s unthinkable to envision anyone other than Richard Gere in the role of Edward Lewis, the mega-rich business man from New York who hires Vivian (Julia Roberts) to be his escort for a week.<\/p>\n
The casting process for Pretty Woman took longer than expected, with Al Pacino initially leading the charge for the role of Lewis. The legendary actor even went so far as to participate in a casting reading with Julia Roberts before ultimately deciding to turn the part down.<\/p>\n
Although he liked the script, Pacino never disclosed his reasons for passing on the role. In hindsight, he has expressed admiration for Roberts, who was a relatively unknown actress at the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, you could tell at the reading, this is going to be good, this is going to be a hit picture. You just knew it,\u201d Pacino shared.<\/p>\n
He went on to say: \u201cAnd this girl was phenomenal. I mean, I said to Gary, \u2018Where did you get this girl?\u2019\u201d (Gary being Gary Marshall, the film\u2019s director). Pacino\u2019s instincts were spot on, as Roberts\u2019s standout performance would define her career and the film\u2019s legacy.<\/p>\n
The croissant becomes a pancake<\/p>\n
In the scene where Richard Gere\u2019s character orders breakfast to the room, there\u2019s a funny little detail you might not have noticed. It starts with Vivian enjoying a croissant while talking to Edward.<\/p>\n
But then, in the blink of an eye, the croissant magically turns into a pancake.<\/p>\n
Screenshot
\nHow did that happen? According to director Garry Marshall, he preferred Roberts\u2019 performance in the later takes, where she was eating a pancake instead of the croissant, so they kept the footage.<\/p>\n
However, this created a continuity issue. In the first shot with the pancake, Vivian takes a second bite, but in the following shot, the pancake has only one bite missing, and the bite pattern is noticeably different.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s clearly not the same pancake!<\/p>\n
Truth behind the iconic dress<\/p>\n
The careful consideration of costume design might go unnoticed by the average moviegoer. However, whether you have a keen eye for fashion or not, it\u2019s impossible to overlook the iconic red dress that Julia Roberts\u2019 character wears in the movie.<\/p>\n
The red dress symbolizes Vivan\u2019s transformation and empowerment, during an \u201ctransformative\u201d scene in the film where Roberts\u2019 character accompanies her Edward Lewis for a night at the opera.<\/p>\n
Wikipedia Commons
\nVogue described the dress as \u201deye-catching, incredibly sexy without losing an ounce of elegance.\u201d The genius behind that stunning dress? None other than the award-winning costume designer Marilyn Vance.<\/p>\n
She crafted six fabulous outfits for Julia Roberts\u2019 character, Vivian Ward, and was also the mastermind behind Richard Gere\u2019s dapper looks.<\/p>\n
Take, for instance, the charming brown-and-white polka dot dress Roberts wore to the horse race. That little gem was created from old silk found in a tiny antique fabric shop in Los Angeles \u2014 talk about recycling in style! And those chic shoes? Yup, they were by Chanel.<\/p>\n
Richard Gere\u2019s tie<\/p>\n
As for Gere\u2019s wardrobe, it was a masterclass in color coordination, featuring brown, navy, and blue-gray suits, all designed by Vance.<\/p>\n
Now, about that famous tie that Roberts snatches from a store employee? According to Vance, it was \u201cnothing special\u201d and certainly not designer.<\/p>\n
She picked it up in a Los Angeles shop for a cool $48.<\/p>\n
During the polo match, Edward sports a straight-collar shirt along with the tie that Vivian gifted him, knotted in a half-Windsor. But in a later scene, the sharp-eyed viewer can spot a subtle change \u2014 Edward\u2019s collar has magically transformed into a spread style, and the tie is now in a full-Windsor knot.<\/p>\n
\u2018Obscene\u2019 shopping spree<\/p>\n
When Richard Gere introduces Julia Roberts\u2019 character to the glamorous world of the rich, he takes her on a wild shopping spree down Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.<\/p>\n
That afternoon shopping trip? It would have set Gere\u2019s character back at least $30,000, according to designer Marilyn Vance.<\/p>\n
Talk about a retail therapy session on steroids! It\u2019s like they were shopping with Monopoly money \u2014 no wonder Vivian was in a daze.Vivian starts with four neatly arranged options (not counting that fancy gold circle one). But in the next shot, like magic, the order has completely changed.<\/p>\n
Richard Gere didn\u2019t like his character<\/p>\n
Richard Gere has certainly benefited from the success of Pretty Woman\u2014both in terms of his career and his bank account. But he hasn\u2019t always been entirely positive about the film, especially when it comes to his character, Edward. At a film festival in Venice, Gere described Edward as \u201ccriminally underwritten.\u201d He added, \u201cBasically, he\u2019s just a suit and a good haircut.\u201d<\/p>\n
One scene in particular seemed to irk Gere, featuring Edward playing the piano while Vivian edges closer. Reflecting on it, Gere sarcastically remarked: \u201dI mean, no chemistry. This actor and this actress obviously had no chemistry between them\u2026 I haven\u2019t seen that in a long time. That\u2019s a sexy scene.\u201d<\/p>\n
Director Garry Marshall came up with the idea for the scene after asking Gere what he usually did late at night in a hotel. Gere recalled, \u201cAnd I said, \u2018Well, I\u2019m usually jet lagged, [that] would be the time I\u2019m in a hotel. So I\u2019m up all night and usually there\u2019s a ballroom somewhere or a bar, and I\u2019ll find a piano and I\u2019ll play the piano.\u2019\u201d Marshall then suggested, \u201cWell, let\u2019s do something with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, the scene was essentially improvised, with Gere explaining: \u201cHe said, \u2018Play something moody.\u2019 I just started playing something moody that was this character\u2019s interior life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then, just as mysteriously, they snap back to the original lineup in the third shot. It\u2019s as if the condoms were having their own little dance routine behind the scenes.<\/p>\n
More than just onscreen lovers<\/p>\n
If you ask me, the chemistry Julia Roberts and Gere in Pretty Woman was undeniable. But the sparks didn\u2019t just fly when the cameras were rolling \u2014 they formed a close bond off-screen too.<\/p>\n
In 2017, Gere shared that he still talks to Roberts \u201dall the time,\u201d and back in the day, they would speak \u201dthree or four times a day.\u201d<\/p>\n
You could say it was love at first sight, in a friendly sort of way.<\/p>\n
\u201dYeah, we loved each other immediately. So it was a nice thing,\u201d Gere admitted.<\/p>\n
Even director Garry Marshall noticed the connection between them right away.<\/p>\n
He recalled a moment during the first meeting when he stepped out to use the restroom, leaving the actors alone to get acquainted.<\/p>\n
\u201dI came out and saw the two of them at the end of a hall, just looking at each other,\u201d Marshall said. \u201dAnd right there, I thought, look at that chemistry. They don\u2019t know each other, and yet they\u2019re doing great.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roberts convinced Gere to star in Pretty Woman<\/p>\n
Although Al Pacino came close to landing the role, it seems Julia Roberts was determined to have Richard Gere as her on-screen partner.<\/p>\n
She practically pleaded with Richard Gere in a very genuine way.<\/p>\n
\u201dHe\u2019s a very serious actor and he had very specific thoughts about the movie and the part and what worked and didn\u2019t work for him,\u201d she told SiriusXM in 2017.<\/p>\n
\u201dI think I just nodded and smiled a lot and agreed with everything he said. I said, \u2018You have to do this movie, if you don\u2019t do this movie and it falls apart and I lose this job it\u2019ll just be terrible.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
And this is how it all went down according to Richard Gere:<\/p>\n
\u201cI still didn\u2019t know if I was doing this movie. We\u2019re getting to know each other, we\u2019re flirty, flirty\u2026nice, nice\u2026She\u2019s across the desk, she takes a piece of paper, and she\u2019s writing something on it and she turns it around and pushes it to me\u2026\u2018Please say yes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pretty Woman is one of those movies I can watch countless times \u2014 it never gets old or boring. But considering how many times I\u2019ve seen it,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":false,"total_views":0,"today_views":0},"yoast_head":"\n