WhilePretty Womandid much to cement Richard Gere’s leading man status in Hollywood, the actor admits he believes there wasn’t much substance to the character. InPretty Woman, Edward (Gere) pays sex worker Vivian (Julia Roberts) to act as his girlfriend for a week as he attends several high-profile work engagements. As the week goes on, the pair fall in love. The movie stands as one of themost beloved rom-comsof the ’90s, and one of the most memorable projects for both Roberts and Gere.
At the 81st Venice Film Festival (viaThe Hollywood Reporter), Gere spoke at a masterclass on the art of cinema through acting, screenwriting, lighting, scoring and dubbing. There,he critiqued hisPretty Womancharacter for being “criminally underwritten.”He explained, “It was basically a suit and a good haircut.” This was in response to a scene that was screened featuring Edward playing the piano while Vivian gets closer. Gere said:
[sarcastically] I mean, no chemistry. This actor and this actress obviously had no chemistry between them… I haven’t seen that in a long time. That’s a sexy scene.
And Garry [Marshall, director] said to me, ‘What do you do at late at night in a hotel?' And I said, ‘Well, I’m usually jet lagged, [that] would be the time I’m in a hotel. So I’m up all night and usually there’s a ballroom somewhere or a bar, and I’ll find a piano and I’ll play the piano.’ He said: ‘Well, let’s do something with that. So we just basically improvised this scene, and he said: ‘Play something moody.’ I just started playing something moody that was this character’s interior life.
Gere’s Pretty Woman Criticisms Are Valid
But That Doesn’t Erase Its Incredible Success And Legacy
Gere’s criticism of hisPretty Womancharacter is valid. Though the movie features some scenes digging into his life outside of Vivian, much of his emotional depth is kept solely to his relationship. It is understandable why the actor might scoff a bit, but to this day,Gere can’t deny the chemistry between him and Roberts.THRnotes that, during the masterclass,thePretty Womansceneearned the biggest applause. It was the scene where Vivian enters a room to find Edward playing the piano, and he undresses her and places her atop it.
Despite Gere’s reading of his character,Pretty Womanhas grossed over $460 million at the worldwide box office as of 2024. When it was released,it was the fifth-highest-grossing film of all timeand reinvigorated both of the leads' careers. However, Gere said he and his fellow cast and crew mates would never have guessed the movie’s outcome. At the masterclass, he said the film’s reception blew their expectations out of the water, as they didn’t believe many people would pay attention to a relatively “tiny” movie.
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The iconic scene between Vivian and Edward helped to makePretty Womanthe smash hit that it was, as did the unforgettable chemistry between Gere and Roberts. That Gere is still discussing it years later shows that, though he may believe it doesn’t hold much depth,it still resonates deeply with viewers. It seems moviegoers like Edward exactly as he is, even if he is little more than his appearance.
Pretty Woman
Cast
Directed by Gary Marshall, Pretty Woman stars Julia Roberts and Richard Gere as Vivian Ward and Edward Lewis. Lewis is a wealthy New York businessman who hires Hollywood sex worker Ward to accompany him during his stay in Los Angeles. Initially wary of each other, the couple’s relationship grows steadily deeper over Lewis' stay, causing Ward to begin to rethink her career path.
