Garry Marshall’s romantic comedy Pretty Woman has remained a fan favorite even after its release more than 30 years ago.

The success of the movie is frequently attributed to the on-screen chemistry between the attractive Julia Roberts and the charming Richard Gere. But many people are unaware that the Academy Award-winning actress had to go to great lengths to persuade her Runaway Bride co-star to accept the role in Pretty Woman. 

Well, can you picture someone else in J. F. Lawton’s scripted movie instead of Gere and Roberts? Despite being relatively unknown at the time, the American Gigolo actor was still chosen for the role of Edward Lewis; in fact, Gere needed some persuasion to accept the part.

How Julia Roberts Got Richard Gere To Star With Her In Pretty Woman?

Richard Gere initially turned down the role before ultimately agreeing to deliver a legendary performance in the 1990 romantic comedy Pretty Woman. What, then, caused the Chicago actor to reconsider? During the film’s 25th-anniversary celebration on The Today Show in 2015, he claimed that Julia Roberts slipped him the following note while he was on the phone with Garry Marshall one night:
“She turns [the note] around, and she pushes it to me. It said, ‘Please say yes.’ It was so sweet. And I was like ‘miming talking on the phone], I just said yes.’”
Julia Roberts And Richard Gere
Roberts then related a similar story about how she wished Gere would take the role in Pretty Woman. She recalled visiting the Arbitrage actor’s apartment with Garry Marshall, where the director had instructed the actors to discuss the role privately.

She confessed to pleading with Gere (via SiriusXM):
“You have to do this movie. If you don’t do this movie, it falls apart and I lose this job. It’d just be terrible!” 
Later, in 1999, the two collaborated to appear in Runaway Bride.

What Else You Need To Know About Garry Marshall’s Pretty Woman

Garry Marshall was initially hesitant to cast Julia Roberts because she lacked experience when he started casting for the role of Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman. When she finally got a screen test, the director told She Knows in 2009, “She popped off the screen” and then he realized she was ideal for the movie.

A fun fact about Pretty Woman is that it was originally intended to be a much darker art movie with a less-than-happy ending. Patricia Arquette and Julia Roberts talked about how they prepared for their roles in the original script, 3,000, in a joint interview with Variety.
Julia Roberts And Richard Gere in Pretty Woman
Arquette, who made her feature film debut in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, recalled (via Variety):
“Most people don’t know that ‘3,000’ was the original Pretty Woman script. And the ending was really heavy.”
Roberts went on to explain that in the original ending, the male protagonist,
“Threw her out of the car, threw the money on top of her, as memory serves, and just drove away, leaving her in some dirty alley.” 
Fortunately, the script was acquired by Disney, and a much lighter tone was pursued.
Julia Roberts
It is difficult to imagine that the two actors did not collaborate once again, but nearly ten years after Pretty Woman, Richard Gere discovered the ideal script for Roberts. The First Knight actor confessed to Charlie Rose that he thought of his former co-star as soon as he read the script of Runaway Bride.
“It was submitted to me and it made me laugh — read straight through, which is rare. It did make me laugh out loud and [thought], this is Julia.”
He remembered saying to Roberts:
“I don’t even know if I want this part but it’s perfect for you.”
Gere ultimately persuaded Roberts to join him in Runaway Bride, and the two succeeded in hiring Garry Marshall to helm it. The former shared with E! News:
“I don’t know if I would have done it without Garry. My own safety level and security level with him is so high, along with Julia. That was the way to do it.”
Julia Roberts and Richard Gere
Next up for Julia Roberts is the upcoming psychological thriller The Leave the World Behind, which Sam Esmail wrote, directed, and produced. Meanwhile, Richard Gere will next be seen in Longing, a comedy-drama written and directed by Savi Gabizon.