24 Surprising Facts About ‘Pretty Woman’

“What’s your dream?” Garry Marshall’s Pretty Woman was all about big dreams—Hollywood-sized dreams, in fact—so it seems especially fitting that the 1990 romantic comedy became a smash hit, launching the career of starlet Julia Roberts and forever injecting the idea of the “hooker with a heart of gold” into the pop culture vernacular. Here are 24 interesting facts about the movie you may not know.

1. Pretty Woman was originally much darker.

Screenwriter J.F. Lawton’s original script, which was titled 3000, wasn’t a love story—and it didn’t have a happy ending. Instead of a rom-com about two very different people finding love, it was a grittier tale about two damaged individuals who spent a week together that ends in tears and zero hope for a balcony-set reunion scene.

2. The original version of the film ended at Disneyland.

As dark as 3000 was, it ended with Vivian and her best pal Kit headed to The Happiest Place on Earth: Disneyland. That scene was ultimately cut after the film was restyled as a rom-com, but it proved to be weirdly prescient about the feature’s future—the movie was eventually produced by Disney.

3. The final script for Pretty Woman was written by at least four screenwriters.

Although Lawton is the only credited screenwriter on the project—which means he contributed more than half of its content—other scribes took a pass at it in order to turn it into the beloved gem it is today, including Stephen Metcalfe (Cousins), Robert Garland (No Way Out), and Barbara Benedek (The Big Chill).

4. Julia Roberts was interested in the film from the very beginning.

No, really! Lawton’s first version of the story—the darker 3000—was a well-regarded script that was set to be made as it was, before its production company went belly up. Even in its grittier incarnation, the up-and-coming Roberts was interested in the role of Vivian. She was always going to be the pretty woman.

Marshall later recalled Roberts’s auditions, knowing they found their Vivian pretty early on. “I remembered I screen tested her with a bunch of people, including some ringers who were so funny I thought they would blow her right out, but they didn’t,” he shared. “I remember after the screen test, I called [producer] Jeffrey Katzenberg and said, ‘We’ve got to get a guy, but the guy’s not so important because we’re going to make it with this girl. She’s got it.'”

5. But she had one important request.

Though Roberts was on board from the beginning, there was one thing she considered off-limits for the role: she wouldn’t take off her clothes. The first thing she told Marshall upon meeting him about the movie was straight to the point: “I won’t be naked.” Fortunately, that didn’t end up becoming a problem. 

Roberts reportedly used a body double for revealing scenes in the movie and the director prioritized her feelings. “‘I’m going to do everything to make you feel comfortable,’” Marshall recalled telling her. 

Years later, Roberts spoke more on her aversion to nude scenes, telling Marie Claire in 2007: “I wouldn't do nudity in a film. To act with my clothes on is a performance. To act with my clothes off is a documentary.”

6. Roberts tested against a variety of Hollywood leading men.

They included Sam Neill, Tom Conti, and Charles Grodin. Of course, it was Richard Gere who eventually snagged the part of Edward Lewis, though it took some convincing. As he recalled years later, the actor “didn't understand” the movie, thinking the character was “just a suit,” and was hesitant to even meet with Marshall.

“There was no character,” Gere said. “So, I read this thing, and I said, ‘It's not for me.’” Eventually, he met with Marshall and Roberts, and he was sold.

7. The film really was shot at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel.

It was mostly a matter of convenience; it was the only hotel in Beverly Hills that would allow Marshall to film both inside and outside. (Fans of the movie can book a "Pretty Woman for a Day" stay at the hotel.) Additional scenes were filmed at the nearby Ambassador Hotel—the same Ambassador Hotel where Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in 1968—which was demolished in 2005.

8. It's the fourth highest grossing romantic comedy in American history.

With a box office total take of just over $178.4 million, Pretty Woman trails only My Big Fat Greek Wedding, What Women Want, and Hitch, which means it’s still the highest-grossing romantic comedy of the ‘90s (There’s Something About Mary, which opened in 1998, is just behind it with $176,484,651).

9. Pretty Woman is classified as a “Cinderella Complex” film.

Online box office resource Box Office Mojo places the film within the "Cinderella Complex" category, a genre that also includes Ever After, She’s All That, and The Devil Wears Prada. Pretty Woman is considered the fourth-highest grossing film within the category.

10. Even the original screenplay includes that famous shopping scene.

One element of the film that remained intact over the course of its many script changes is the scene in which some rude saleswomen at a Beverly Hills boutique refuse to sell to Vivian because they don't think she can afford anything.

In 3000, Vivian also goes back to the shop to show off her wares after a more successful shopping excursion, but she doesn’t use that seminal “Big mistake!” line.

11. A woman added in one of the film’s most important final lines.

Producer Laura Ziskin is often credited with turning the film into a fairytale, and while that’s exactly not true (again, there were at least four writers on this feature alone), she did contribute one of the film’s final lines: “She saves him right back,” delivered by an emboldened Vivian on a scuzzy fire escape, after Edward comes to, well, rescue her.

12. That’s not Julia Roberts on the film’s poster.

Although Roberts sports a very familiar outfit on the film’s classic poster, you may notice that the colors of her dress are all wrong (pink and black, instead of white and blue). But there’s something else that’s not quite right: that body does not belong to Roberts!

Body double Shelley Michelle posed for the pic, and Roberts’s head was later superimposed onto Michelle's body.

13. The opera that Vivian and Edward attend is La Traviata.

It’s the opera that made Vivian almost pee her pants, it was so good! But it’s also an opera that’s oddly reflective of the story at hand, because La Traviata is also about a prostitute who falls in love with a rich gentleman. That tale ends tragically, however, with courtesan Violetta falling ill with tuberculosis, singing one last song, and dying in her lover’s arms.

14. A lot of stars (and would-be stars) turned down the film.

They included Jennifer Connelly, Michelle Pfeiffer, Daryl Hannah, Al Pacino, Albert Brooks, Burt Reynolds, and Jeff Bridges. Big mistake. Big! Huge!

Although Pacino didn’t think the movie was for him, he did recognize Roberts’s talent right away. Looking back at his experience reading with the actress, he told Robert De Niro in a video for GQ: “This girl was phenomenal. I mean, I said to Gary [Marshall], ‘Where did you get this girl?’ And so you really get a sense of it. And that was just to prove that instinct was correct.”

15. Director Garry Marshall appears in a cameo. Sort of.

Remember that unhoused man that Edward asks for directions early on in the film, before getting hopelessly lost in Hollywood? That’s not Marshall, but it is his voice!

16. The red dress Vivian wears to the opera was designed by Marilyn Vance.

And as it turns out, the iconic dress almost wasn’t red. Thankfully, Vance pushed on her color preference, and we got the gorgeous gown we see in Pretty Woman.

“The studio really wanted black, but I knew it needed to be red,” Vance recalled to Elle. “Before the decision was made, we ended up having to create three different dresses. We took every color, lit it, and shot her. Poor Julia had to sit for so many color test shots for that one dress. Finally, I was able to find the right shade and convince everyone to go my direction.”

Vance also designed costumes for films like Fast Times At Ridgemont High, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

17. Prince’s “Kiss” does not appear on the film’s soundtrack.

Even though Vivian memorably sings along to the song in the hotel’s massive bathtub—complete with kissing sounds—Prince’s “Kiss” doesn’t actually appear on the film’s soundtrack.

18. But the song from which the film takes its title does.

That would be “Oh, Pretty Woman,” by Roy Orbison.

19. The film was nominated for four Golden Globes.

And Roberts actually won for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy, beating out Mia Farrow, Andie MacDowell, Demi Moore, and even Meryl Streep!

Though Roberts was still a relative newcomer at the time, the award marked her second consecutive Golden Globe; she took home the Best Supporting Actress award one year earlier for Steel Magnolias. Roberts also scored an Oscar nod for her role in Pretty Woman.

20. Vivian’s borrowed necklace was worth a quarter of a million dollars.

The necklace was loaned to the production for filming purposes, and it came complete with its very own security guard, who reportedly stood directly behind Marshall the entire time it was being used on screen.

21. The film’s fancy restaurant scene was shot at a real restaurant.

Back then, the downtown Los Angeles restaurant was called Rex II Ristorante, though it’s now known as Cicada (in the film, it was called The Voltaire). The restaurant has appeared in a number of movies, including Indecent Proposal and Bruce Almighty. Patrons can actually request "The Pretty Woman Table."

The historic restaurant opened in 1928 as a Los Angeles landmark known as the Oviatt Building, serving as the headquarters for men’s clothing brand Alexander & Oviatt. In 1997, the space transformed into Cicada Restaurant and Lounge, an upscale establishment with dinner, drinks, and live music.

22. The choice for Edward’s car was very intentional.

Pretty Woman’s premise was very controversial in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, and it wasn’t just actors who were repelled by it. When looking to add important props into the movie, such as Edward’s car, not all companies wanted to play ball. 

It’s been reported that both Ferrari and Porsche turned the film down because of its association with prostitution, which led production to go with Lotus, specifically a 1989 Lotus Esprit SE.

23. There was a longstanding rumor about tickling.

In the years since Pretty Woman was released, reports of Roberts needing help during a specific scene have circulated. The story goes that while doing the scene in which Vivian watches I Love Lucy, she couldn’t get out a convincing laugh. It’s alleged that Marshall then ticked her feet off-screen, which led to the successful moment we see in the movie. Well, that’s actually not true.

During a 2023 episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Roberts debunked the story once and for all. "You know, that's not true," she stated, before sharing what Marshall really did do on set.

"But Garry [Marshall] would do things like this: He would say, 'Action! Be funny!'” she recalled. “And then I'm just supposed to be laughing or something ... I guess you have to know all these people's names to appreciate this, but he called me the 'schlumpy girl' and he would say, 'If the schlumpy girl married Raul Julia, she'd be Julia Julia!'"

24. There was a mishap with Roberts’s hair.

You might not know this, but Roberts’s signature auburn hair isn’t natural. As such, she had to dye her hair for Pretty Woman, which might not seem like that big of a deal. But it ended up becoming an issue when filming the memorable “Kiss” bubble bath scene. What production didn’t realize is that keeping the bubbles going also meant removing Roberts’s hair dye.

“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,” Roberts later recalled. “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.”