How the film "Pretty Woman" was filmed: footage from the filming and 23 interesting facts about the film (24 photos)

Pretty Woman is definitely one of the best romantic comedies of the 90s.





1. The film Pretty Woman began its journey with a young screenwriter, Jonathan Frederick Lawton, who once lived in the Los Angeles area near the "Walk of Stars", where corrupt women, drug addicts and homeless people were the norm.



Lawton even interacted with some "moths" who told him their stories. One of them even told an interesting story about how a wealthy client rented her for a week, after which he took her to Las Vegas, where she spent the entire time basking in luxury.



After hearing stories like this, Lawton decides to write a script about a rich man who hires a “moth” for a week. After finishing the work, he called his project "Three Thousand", which refers to the amount that the main character took from Edward Lewis for a week of work.

2. According to the original idea of the screenwriter, Vivian was supposed to not only provide paid services of an intimate nature, but also use drugs.

And in the end, Edward Lewis should have simply thrown the main character out of the car, throwing money at her, because she didn’t want to get out because she fell in love with Edward. But he did not have feelings for her, so he forcibly abandoned her in the same area where he picked her up. A bit harsh, isn't it?



Well, at the very end we were supposed to be shown how Vivian and her friend Kit go to Disneyland.

3. After finishing work on the script, Lawton sent it to different studios, and one of them (Westeron) became interested in this project, but it was never possible to make a film based on this script because the company went bankrupt.

But the most interesting thing is that Jeffrey Katzenberg (then general producer of the Walt Disney company) became interested in Lawton's script. True, there was one problem. The script was too adult, which did not suit Disney and even its Touchstone Pictures division, which created films for adult audiences. Still, the original script was too harsh.



Then Katzenberg decided that the script needed to be reworked a little. In particular, it was necessary to remove all the bad habits of the main character, leaving her only the type of activity, and of course, the ending had to be replaced with a happy ending, so that we could get a kind of modern story about Cinderella, where the main character, although she does dirty work, has a pure soul and heart.

And this version of the script was perfect for Disney's Touchstone Pictures division to start filming the film.



By the way, Lawton later even joked that Disney deliberately bought this script in order to remove from it the moment where two women of easy virtue go to Disneyland. Well, I also cannot help but note that after “Pretty Woman,” Lawton wrote the script for the film “Under Siege” with Steven Seagal.

4. Before Julia Roberts got the role of Vivian, such actresses as Michelle Pfeiffer, Meg Ryan, Daryl Hannah, Karen Allen and others refused this role. Some of them did not want to play a fallen woman, while others refused because other reasons.



Actress Diana Lane had already been cast for this role, but in the end she was unable to take part due to her busy schedule.

Also, Winona Ryder auditioned for this role, but the casting director felt that she was too young for this role. But there were no problems with 21-year-old Julia Roberts. She fit the bill and happily agreed to play the role. And as it turned out, not in vain.

5. Initially, Al Pacino, John Travolta, Christopher Reeve, Denzel Washington and Daniel Day-Lewis were considered for the role of Edward Lewis. But they all refused. Even Richard Gere did not immediately agree, because he thought that Edward Lewis was too bland a character and could be played by any man who would be put in a suit. But in the end he was persuaded by Julia Roberts, who even wrote him a note with the text: “Please say Yes.” Actually, after this the actor agreed.



6. Not all hotel filming took place in the building itself. So, for example, the corridor and lobby were real, but the room itself was created in the studio pavilions. True, the hotel filming (lobby) took place not at the Beverly Wilshire, but at the Ambassador Hotel.

Also, in the pavilions, the same bed was created where Vivian and Edward sat, enjoying the opera of the famous Italian composer of the 19th century, Giuseppe Verdi. You may have noticed that under the box there are not even chairs with other opera spectators.



7. By the way, the same opera by Giuseppe Verdi, which is called “La Traviata,” was not chosen by chance, because the main character there is also a courtesan.

8. Despite the fact that Julia Robert played her role perfectly, filming was not easy for her. She was constantly nervous and afraid of messing something up. Due to nervousness, she even developed hives, so the poor actress had to be smeared with medicinal ointments every now and then between filming.



Also, Julia Roberts was very nervous and shy while filming intimate scenes. In life, the actress was many times more modest and constrained than her heroine.



9. Remember that same Lotus car (his friend's car) in which Edward first met Vivian? There were certain difficulties in finding a car for the film.

Initially, director Harry Marshall wanted to reach an agreement with the famous companies "Porche" and "Ferrari", but they refused him for a trivial reason. They simply did not want their car to be associated with women of easy virtue, despite the fact that it was driven by a rich and successful man.

Having learned that a director making a film for a Disney subsidiary was looking for a car for filming, the British company Lotus offered filmmakers its brand new Lotus Esprit car.



And of course, no one associated this car with courtesans. Moreover, after the release of the film “Pretty Woman,” sales of Lotus Esprit cars tripled. Checkmate "Ferrari" and "Porche".

10. As I wrote earlier, screenwriter Jonathan Lawton initially called his project “Three Thousand.” But the bosses did not like this name, in particular due to the fact that this title smacked of some kind of futurism.



But when Roy Orbison’s composition “Pretty woman” was chosen as the soundtrack for the film, it was decided to name the film exactly that way, that is, in honor of this song.

By the way, if you remember, this composition was also used in the film “Dumb and Dumber”, when Harry and Lloyd tried on costumes. Naturally, this was a reference to the movie "Pretty Woman".



11. An interesting point is connected with the official poster for the film “Pretty Woman”. The fact is that when it came to creating the cover for the film, Julia Roberts and Richard Gere were entirely involved in other projects. Therefore, the authors decided to use a little trick.

Actors with the same build as the main characters were invited to shoot for the poster. After they were filmed, their heads were erased using Photoshop, and then the heads of Gere and Roberts were “stuck on.” So on that very cover we do not see the bodies of the actors who played the roles of the main characters.



It is known that Vivian's body in that very poster belongs to the famous fitness model Shelley Michelle.



12. With a budget of $14 million, the film grossed $463 million. It was definitely a success. And to be honest, I’m surprised that the studio bosses didn’t take aim at a sequel.

13. Director Harry Marshall specifically gave Vivian the surname Ward, since that was his grandfather’s surname.



14. Filming on Rodeo Drive, where Vivian stocked clothes, was filmed only on Sundays due to the fact that on other days the film crew could interfere with local entrepreneurs.

15. The same necklace that Vivian wore while visiting the op.era, is not costume jewelry. This is a real piece of jewelry worth 250 thousand dollars. The jewelry company provided its product to filmmakers as advertising. True, there was one condition: the necklace (or rather those who had it) was constantly accompanied by an armed guard.



16. The scene where Edward abruptly closes the box with the necklace to scare Vivian was not in the script. All this turned out to be pure improvisation by Richard Gere, so Julia Roberts’ emotions here are also genuine. The director liked this improvisation so much that it was decided to insert it into the film.



17. When Edward first brings Vivian to the hotel room, she watches the old movie “I Love Lucy” and laughs wildly. Roberts' laugh was not forced at all. The fact is that during the filming of this scene, her heels were tickled so that the laughter looked natural.



18. Remember the scene when Edward Lewis plays the piano. So, Richard Gere himself actually plays in the frame. Moreover, he himself composed that very melody.



19. The costume designer thought for a long time about what clothes Vivian should wear at the beginning of the film, but nothing came to mind. But one day he saw some guy who was dissecting in a red jacket, and realized that this was exactly what he needed.

No, of course he didn’t undress the boy, but he found an interesting option from the ticket taker at the cinema. He ended up buying the item of clothing from the usher for just $30.

20. The scene when Julia Roberts dived under the water in the bathtub, realizing that she would be paid $3,000, happened by accident. But director Harry Marshall liked this idea, so they decided to shoot it specifically for the film.



But the foam did not want to remain on the actress’s face after she emerged. Therefore, detergent had to be added to the water (in addition to foam). But the most interesting thing is that this detergent washed away Roberts' red dye, which is why she urgently had to dye her hair again.



21. At the beginning of the film we are shown the cheap hotel where Vivian lived. The sign says "Hotel", but only the first two letters are lit. This was done for a reason. The fact is that “HO” in slang means “H*stite” (from the English Hooker).

22. It was originally planned that the dress Vivian would wear to the opera would be black, not red. But the costume designer was against black, saying that a red dress would look more interesting. After much debate and test fittings, it became clear that the red dress would indeed suit the heroine better.



23. In 2012, Richard Gere said in an interview that the film “Pretty Woman” is one of his least favorite films with his participation, despite the fact that this film is the first that comes to mind for most viewers when mentioning the actor.