Why Richard Gere Initially Turned Down 'Pretty Woman' Role

Richard Gere is opening up about Pretty Woman.

The 75-year-old actor admitted some new details behind-the-scenes before making the 1990 rom-com, co-starring Julia Roberts.

“I’m so proud of that movie and proud of the work process that we did to create that movie,” he said on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast. “And I’m not only proud, I’m thankful for that movie because it allowed me to do a lot of other things too.”

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Richard admitted that at first, he “didn’t understand” the film, and the character he was asked to play, Edward Lewis.

“There was no character,” he said. “So, I read this thing, and I said, ‘It’s not for me,” adding that it felt like the character was “just a suit.”

He was also initially “uncomfortable” meeting with director Garry Marshall because he really didn’t want to do the movie.

Eventually, they met and “we start talking about the script and I said, ‘Look, I just don’t see a character.’”

“Let’s you and me find it,” he remembers the director saying, adding that he convinced Richard to meet with Julia.

“I said, ‘She’s adorable. She’s great.’ And while I’m talking to him, she takes a Post-It off of my desk and she writes on it something. Then she moves it across the table to me and it says, ‘Please say yes.’ So how could you say no to that?” he recalled.

“We ended up, you know, really trying to find a character there that made sense within the structure and, you know, the essence of what that piece was…to make it heartfelt, to make it charming, make it fun, make it sexy, you know? And we all loved each other. Great trust, we had a wonderful time, and we had no idea that it was gonna be what it was,” he went on to say.

Find out why he and his family are moving to Spain.

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