The audience would never see this amazing duo if not for Roberts’ undeniable charm.
It’s hard to imagine a 90’s classic like Pretty Woman starring anyone other than Julia Roberts and Richard Gere.
Both extremely talented, beautiful and charismatic, they made justice to a story that could easily get lost in the shuffle of other romantic comedies.
Instead, the film was an instant success, earning $463 million at the box office on a budget of only $14 million.
However, things could have been very different if it weren’t for Julia Roberts’ charm and Gere’s inability to resist a smile.
The actor doesn’t really like to talk about Pretty Woman today, referring to it as a silly comedy that glorifies the wrong kinds of professions, just as he wasn’t very eager to do it back in 1990.
It took a meeting with Julia Roberts for him to be smitten by her smile and bubbly personality and agree to take the role.
Julia was first cast in the role of Vivian Ward and it was a huge success for the actress as she was only 21 years old at the time.
However, she was considered a wild card because the director, Garry Kent Marshall, didn’t really know what to do with her and how she would look on screen.
What he knew for sure was that the actress had the kind of charm that no one else could compete with, and if they could transfer it to the screen, success would almost be guaranteed.
Both Roberts and Gere recall how the director arranged the meeting for all three of them, but then left, leaving the two actors to their own devices.
It clearly went well, as Richard agreed to say “yes” to the movie after Marshall first called to ask how things were going.
Once again, Roberts came up with an idea and asked Gere to agree to do the movie on a sticky note.
If you’re feeling nostalgic, consider revisiting Pretty Woman on your next movie night. You can stream it on Hulu, Disney Plus or ESPN Plus.
