Why Richard Gere Almost Turned Down His Pretty Woman Role

Imagine someone other than Richard Gere

playing the role of Edward Lewis in Pretty Woman — it’s hard to picture, but it’s exactly what almost happened.

Gere, 75, joined host Scott Feinberg for the Thursday, December 12, episode of his “Awards Chatter” podcast that touched on Gere’s gratitude for that iconic role, and his admission that he almost passed up the opportunity to star opposite Julia Roberts in the 1990 romantic comedy.

“Let me be clear, I really like the movie,” Gere said. “Initially, I didn’t understand it. There was no character. So I read this thing and I said, ‘It’s not for me. To me it’s a suit that’s there in the movie.’”

“I wouldn’t mind seeing the movie,” he remembered saying. “But I don’t see myself doing this.”

Despite his initial concerns, Gere eventually met with director Garry Marshall anyway.

“We start talking about the script and I said, ‘Look, I just don’t see a character,’” Gere recounted, to which Marshall replied, “Let’s you and me find it.”

It was enough to convince Gere to meet with Roberts, who had already agreed to play Vivian. When Marshall called Gere 45 minutes into the meeting to get his thoughts on the young actress, the deal had already been sealed.

“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,” Gere said. “Then she moves it across the table to me and it says, ‘Please say yes.’ So how could you say no to that?”

Eventually — and after “a lot of rewrites,” according to Gere — Pretty Woman turned into the classic that fans know today. The movie follows Edward, a wealthy New York businessman, who hires sex worker Vivian Ward (Roberts) to accompany him for a week in Los Angeles. Despite their stark differences, the two grow closer and ultimately fall in love.

Shooting the film, Gere said, inspired him to work harder and figure out how to develop the character into something more complex.

“We ended up really trying to find a character there that made sense within the structure and the essence of what that piece was,” Gere explained. “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.”

The result was a box office smash that grossed nearly half a billion dollars during its run. Both Roberts and Gere earned Golden Globe nominations for their roles and Roberts took home the win for Best Actress in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy.

Looking back, Gere couldn’t be more proud of his role in the film — or the longstanding success it’s had over the years.

“I’m so proud of that movie and proud of the work process that we did to create that movie,” Gere said. “And I’m not only proud, I’m thankful for that movie because it allowed me to do a lot of other things too.”