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5 Interesting Things You Might Not Know About ‘Pretty Woman’: Film’s Original Title and More!

Entertainment

Jun 11, 2024 3:00 pm·

By Samantha Agate

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Richard Gere and Julia Roberts starred in 1990’s Pretty Woman, which has since become a staple on everyone’s top rom-com lists. But did you know the film initially had a different name?

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Interesting Things You Might Not Know About Pretty Woman

So Many Stars Were Vying for the Role of Vivian Ward

The role of Vivian Ward went to Julia, but so many top stars were vying for the gig.

“Everybody in town went for that role. At that time — as I’ve said on other shows — it’s true, it was a very different [film],” actress Diane Lane explained on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen. “It kind of got Disney-fied and it turned out to be a feel good movie. Originally, this crazy [woman] was kicked out of a rolling limo in the end because she was delusional that she thought this guy was in love with her. She was only hired for the weekend. And we had such compassion for her.”

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An Intense Film

Richard Gere admitted that the role was something totally different for him.

“I never thought that I would be able to do a film like that. I didn’t think I had the skill set for that. I’m a pretty intense guy,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “It wasn’t particularly easy for me to be that lighthearted, basically.”

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Here’s Who Almost Starred in the Movie

The producers were actually eyeing two different leads for Pretty Woman.

“It would definitely have been a different movie if had it been Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer. It might have been closer to the original script and maybe not have had a happy ending,” Disney studio chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg said. “But the chemistry between Julia and Richard, it is palpable on the screen, it was palpable in auditions. You can’t really see how it could end any other way, because they just light up with each other.”

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Julia Had a Hair Emergency on Set

Julia’s famous bathtub scene wasn’t as seamless as it looked in the film.

“This is what I remember about being in the bathtub is that my hair was dyed red, and they had this strong detergent to make the bubbles and I kept going under and coming out and going under and coming out,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “And by the end of the day, the detergent had taken off all of my hair color. And as I was leaving and saying goodbye to Carol, who did my hair, she said ‘Why do you look blond?’… We had emergency hair color at 10 o’clock at night because of the bathtub.”

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Original Title

The original Pretty Woman screenplay was titled 3,000, per multiple outlets. The original concept was scrapped before a new version was in the works.

“I got that part in that movie and felt really proud, but when the production company folded and the film disappeared I was crushed,” Julia revealed. “But then Disney picked it up, which seemed so unlikely, and made it funny.”

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