Pretty Woman: what you didn't know about this classic movie

More than 30 years have passed since the classic 'Pretty Woman,' starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, appeared in cinemas. In the U.S., it premiered on March 23, 1990. The film was very successful and earned Julia Roberts an Oscar nomination for Best Actress as well as a Golden Globe for Best Comedy.

There are a lot of surprising things to know from behind the scenes. For example, that neither Julia Roberts nor Richard Gere were the first options to star in the film. The producers thought of Al Pacino, Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan, Michelle Pfeiffer, and others before Julia Roberts and Richard Gere.

Allegedly, the producers wanted Al Pacino to star in the film because of his success in 'The Godfather', and they wanted Daryl Hannah to be the lead actress. However, both rejected the role. Meanwhile, John Travolta auditioned for the role of Edward and Winona Ryder for Vivian, but they didn't get the parts.

They say Richard Gere was going to refuse the role as well. However, allegedly, just as he was about to communicate his decision to the producers over the phone, Julia Roberts passed him a note that read: 'please say yes'.

(By Gere's side, his then-partner, supermodel Cindy Crawford)

When the film was made, Julia Roberts was 23 years old and Richard Gere 41.

'Pretty Woman' was not the first choice as a title for the movie. Other names were considered, such as '3,000', the amount in dollars that the businessman (Richard Gere) was going to pay the prostitute (Julia Roberts) for spending the week together.

In the end, however, it was Roy Orbison's song that gave the name to the film.

The apartment hotel where 'Vivian' (Julia Roberts) lived in the movie is located on Palmas Avenue in Hollywood, Los Angeles. You can now spend a night at the hotel for $85 (a double room), and it is a popular destination because of the film.

The hotel where rich executive 'Edwin' stayed, the 'Regent Beverly Wilshire', is called 'Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel' nowadays. Its presidential suite, where much of the film was shot, is currently priced at $10,000 a night. In addition, the hotel  has a 'Pretty Woman' experience available, which offers transportation in a Rolls Royce, a spa, and tickets to the opera.

For the intimate scenes in the movie, where you cannot see her face, a double with more curves plays the role of Vivian. Julia Roberts herself was extremely thin at the time.

The body on the film's poster doesn't belong to Julia Roberts either, it's the model Shelley Michelle.

No extras were needed to shoot the scene where Richard Gere plays the piano, as the actor really knows how to play the piano and even composed the music for that scene.

'La Traviata' is the opera the couple went to see in San Francisco. The story is about a young woman of limited means who falls in love with a rich man.

The scene in which Edward quickly closes the box of the necklace that Vivian was watching, was an improvised scene and a joke made by Richard Gere at the time. However, the scene looked so good on camera that they decided to use it in the film.

In fact, they used a necklace that cost a quarter of a million dollars. A security guard protected it at all times during the shoot.

According to the costume designer Marilyn Vance, there were dresses in various colors available for the Julia Roberts scenes in the opera. While Vance always hesitates between red and black, this time red was her final decision.

Did you know that both Ferrari and Porsche refused at the time to have their cars featured in 'Pretty Woman'? Finally, the car that Gere drives is a 1989 Lotus Esprit SE.

The film's budget was initially a steep $14 million, but at the end of its cycle in theaters the movie grossed over $463 million.

Years after the film was shot, neither Richard Gere nor Julia Roberts seem to have very good memories of it. Gere confessed in an interview that he believes it was "a stupid romantic comedy", and he apologized for having made the men on Wall Street seem positively fascinating.

After 'Pretty Woman,' it took seven years for Richard Gere and Julia Roberts star together in a film again. Their next movie was 'Runaway Bride'.

There was a different ending to the original story. Although Edward and Vivian leave the hotel together in a limousine in 'Pretty Woman,' the original script stated that Edward would drop Vivian off on the streets in Beverly Hills and return to New York without her.

The original script written by J.F. Lawton was much darker and stronger than the final movie. In fact, the character of 'Vivian' was a user of unhealthy substances and would end up dead in an alley according to the original version. They say that the story of the film was rewritten at least six times.

The movie almost didn't make it. The production company in charge of the shooting had to stop due to lack of money. Disney offered to take over the project, but only if it would get a happy ending instead of the original drama. And that's what happened: 'Pretty Woman' became a comedy.

Julia Roberts had a lot of problems to fake laughter during filming, so the director did anything, including passing feathers over the soles of her feet, to make sure the actress laughed naturally.

During the recording of this scene in the bathtub, there is a blooper that you can find on Youtube. The entire production team played a joke on Julia Roberts. While she was underwater, everyone ran out and hid.

The song 'Kiss' by Prince that Vivian sings in the bathtub while listening to her walkman, is actually sung badly. Roberts sings the same phrase twice, while in the original song it is not repeated.

In one of the first scenes, where Edward talks on the phone with his girlfriend, you can see a person from the production reflected in the glass.

Garry Marshall, the film's director, makes a cameo in one of the scenes where he pretends to be a tramp looking in a dumpster.

The costume designer confessed that the brown dress with white polka dots that 'Vivian' used to go to the polo was actually meant to be long and combined with a pair of Chanel heels. However, as there was not enough fabric, the dress had to be knee-high so that the rest of the fabric could be used to make the hat.

'Pretty Woman' is one of the most widely broadcast films on Valentine's Day, February 14.

Here's a list of the best romantic comedies ever