Behind the Scenes of "Pretty Women": How Dark Social Drama Turned into Romantic Comedy, and Why Feminists Are Branding It

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The famous American actor Richard Gere celebrates his 69th birthday on August 31. Throughout his creative biography, he played more than 60 roles, but one of the most famous is still Edward Lewis in the film "Pretty Woman". But it might not have happened - the original version of the script seemed like a "gunk" with a terrible ending to him and to many actresses who were offered the main role. What was the name of the film at the beginning of filming, what were the characters and which of the actors was supposed to play them - further in the review.

This story was born in Los Angeles, where screenwriter Jonathan Lawton lived on Hollywood Boulevard. The area was a hot spot, and every day Lawton watched as pimps, drug dealers, homeless people and representatives of the "first ancient" gathered in the streets in the evenings. He saw Hollywood Boulevard as the birthplace and death of the "American Dream," and he decided to write a social drama about a drug addicted prostitute whose life ends in a tragic ending.

The original script was "an unpleasant story about unpleasant people." Millionaire sociopath Edward meets Vivian by chance, whom he "buys" for a few days. The girl falls in love with him, since he does not mock her like other clients, but he is only interested in her services. And in the finale, he drops her and flies to New York. Julia Roberts said: "". For these 3,000 Vivian fulfills her childhood dream - she goes to Disneyland, but there she dies from an overdose in one of the public toilets. In this form, the script, which was called "3000", was of little interest to the producers.

However, this project, surprisingly, seemed a promising division of Disney, aimed at an adult audience. They decided to turn a depressive social drama into a romantic Cinderella fairy tale with a happy ending. Executive producer Laura Ziskin insisted that the main character should not have bad habits and that her only drawback was her profession. Only a girl with a pure soul, dreaming of how to end her dark past, could win the love of the protagonist and arouse the sympathy of the audience. Julia Roberts said about her heroine: "".

Screenwriter Jonathan Lawton did not cope with the task, and director Harry Marshall had to make edits. However, the difficulties did not end there. The search for actors lasted quite a long time - none of the famous actresses wanted to compromise themselves with such a role. Meg Ryan, Daryl Hannah, Michelle Pfeiffer, Melanie Griffith and dozens of other actresses who refused to star in this film were afraid to tarnish their reputation. As a result, the role went to aspiring actress Julia Roberts.

The actress at that time was only 21 years old, and although she had already managed to star in several films, at the studio she was considered too young, little-known and inexperienced, and therefore did not want to be approved for the role. Seeing her at the audition, the director still insisted on his own. And then I never regretted my decision.

Richard Gere was one of the first to play the role of Edward Lewis. But the script seemed uninteresting to him, and he refused the offer. After that, John Travolta, Al Pacino and other actors were invited to the casting, but all of them also did not appreciate the prospects of working in this project. Then the producers decided to convince Richard Gere that he looks the most harmonious when paired with Julia Roberts. The actor nevertheless gave his consent thanks to the personal request of his charming partner and the director's arguments: "".

Interestingly, the hero of Richard Gere was supposed to drive a Porsche or Ferrari, but these companies refused to provide cars for filming, fearing for the brand's image - it should not have been associated with the "clinging" of prostitutes. As a result, viewers saw the hero at the wheel of a sporty "Lotus Esprit", and sales of this model tripled after the release of the film.

It was very difficult for Julia Roberts to shoot. She really had little experience at that time, and she was very embarrassed during sex scenes. Once she got so nervous that she was covered with hives, and the make-up artists had to work hard to hide the spots on her skin. And in the scene where she watched a comedy and laughed, the director decided to tickle her heels so that she really burst out laughing in the frame.

Many people do not know that the famous movie poster only depicts the faces of the main characters. But the bodies "belonged" to the stunt doubles. This happened due to the fact that after the end of filming, both Richard Gere and Julia Roberts started working on other projects and could not come to the photo shoot. Model and actress Shelley Michelle "presented" her body to the heroine. And with a photo of the hero, an overlay came out: in the film, the actor has gray hair, and on the poster he is a burning brunette. It turned out that the artists chose an old shot of the actor, where he was younger than in the film.

The working title of the film "3,000" changed only after it was contracted to use Roy Orbison's 1964 song "Oh, Pretty Woman." And thanks to the name of the composition, "Pretty Woman" was born. The film premiered in March 1990 and caused an incredible success that even the producers did not expect. With a budget of $ 14 million, Pretty Woman grossed 463 million. Julia Robert received an Oscar and Golden Globe nomination and became one of the most sought-after Hollywood actresses.

The actors looked on the screens such a harmonious couple that immediately after the release of the picture, rumors about their romance appeared outside the set. However, they were absolutely not true. In the spring of 1990, when the film came out, Roberts ended her relationship with Dylan McDermott and began dating Kiefer Sutherland. And Richard Gere in 1991 married another "Pretty Woman" - supermodel Cindy Crawford, whose marriage lasted until 1995.

Despite the overwhelming success of the film with audiences, not all ratings were equally enthusiastic. And then, and now, the romantic comedy causes outrage among feminists. They accuse "Pretty Woman" of promoting prostitution and maintaining the stereotype "a woman is a commodity that can be bought and sold." They do not see or understand any romance in the story of the sale of sexual services. Which, however, does not prevent the rest of the spectators from watching it from year to year for almost 30 years. "Pretty Woman" has become one of the highest grossing and popular films in the history of world cinema.

Today she is one of the highest paid and in-demand actresses, 12 times she topped the list of the most beautiful people on the planet, and during her school years she was an ugly duckling and was ashamed of herself: How Julia Roberts managed to get rid of complexes.