12 Fascinating Facts to Celebrate Pretty Woman’s 25th Anniversary

12 Fascinating Facts to Celebrate Pretty Woman’s 25th Anniversary

After a quarter of a century, Pretty Woman is back to charm us with its street smarts once again.

To celebrate the film’s 25th anniversary, the original cast reunited on Today to reminisce about the days of the cassette Walkman and filming this Garry Marshall romantic comedy.

Looking at the cast, it is hard to believe over two decades have passed since Vivian Ward (played by Julia Roberts) got swept away by Edward Lewis (portrayed by Richard Gere), teaching all of us some very valuable life lessons in the process.

The 1990 film is now known as the classic that turned Roberts into an international star, but there’s still some things Pretty Woman fans might’ve missed, even with repeated viewings.

Celebrate 25 years of Gere, red dresses and not kissing on the mouth by checking out these surprising behind-the-scenes facts about Pretty Woman.

1. Molly Ringwald and Michelle Pfeiffer both turned down the role of Vivian Ward because they were worried about the script’s content.

2. Al Pacino and Daniel Day-Lewis were both considered for the part of Edward Lewis before Gere was chosen.

3. Pretty Woman features Simpsons actor Hank Azaria in his first film role – he plays a detective.

4. Roberts spent several days at a Los Angeles free clinic, where Marshall’s wife worked as a nurse, to help prepare for her role.

5. Hector Elizondo’s hotel manager character was originally supposed to wear a hearing aid as part of the role, but the director ultimately decided against it.

6. Roberts’s dog was on set the day the first sex scene in the movie was shot and kept interrupting the takes.

7. While the hotel in the movie is supposed to be the Beverly Wilshire, Pretty Woman was actually filmed at Los Angeles’ Ambassador Hotel, which was torn down in 2005 to build several schools.

8. The film was originally called 3000, in reference to Vivian’s price, but was changed after test audiences said it was confusing.

9. The famous scene where Gere gives Roberts the diamond necklace was filmed the day after her 21st birthday.

10. Gere’s box snap wasn’t in the script, it was a prank he and Marshall planned as a surprise for the tired birthday girl. Roberts’s reaction is genuine.

11. During his fight scene with Jason Alexander, Gere lost a crown on his tooth and finished the scene with the loose crown in his mouth.

12. The opera the main characters go to see is La Traviata, which is about a man falling in love with a prostitute.