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\n Related: <\/span>Us Ranks Julia Roberts\u2019 Top 10 Rom-Coms: \u2018Notting Hill\u2019 and More<\/span><\/a>
\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n\t\t\tOnly a select few actresses are synonymous with the romantic comedy movie genre \u2014and Julia Roberts is certainly one of them. From her 1988 foray into the genre in the beloved film Mystic Pizza, in which a young Roberts plays a teenage pizza waitress desperate to find her way after graduating high school, to her [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cLet me be clear, I really like the movie,\u201d Gere said on a December 2024 episode<\/a> of the \u201cAwards Chatter\u201d podcast. \u201cInitially, I didn\u2019t understand it. There was no character. So I read this thing and I said, \u2018It\u2019s not for me. To me, it\u2019s a suit that\u2019s there in the movie.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\nIt wasn\u2019t until Gere met with Marshall, who died in 2016<\/a> at the age of 81, that he had a change of heart.<\/p>\n\u201cWe start talking about the script and I said, \u2018Look, I just don\u2019t see a character,\u2019\u201d Gere recalled, noting that Marshall replied that together they would \u201cfind\u201d the actor in Edward.<\/p>\n
Gere then met with Roberts, who had already agreed to play Vivian. During the meeting, Marshall called to get Gere\u2019s opinion on the Steel Magnolias <\/i>star.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said, \u2018She\u2019s adorable. She\u2019s great.\u2019 And while I\u2019m talking to him, she takes a Post-It off of my desk and she writes something on it,\u201d Gere said. \u201cThen she moves it across the table to me and it says, \u2018Please say yes.\u2019 So how could you say no to that?\u201d<\/p>\n
The film was initially slated to be a gritty drama<\/a>, but Marshall eventually tweaked it into a romantic comedy.<\/p>\n\n![\"Pretty-Woman-inline-MCDPRWO_BV006\"](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Pretty-Woman-inline-MCDPRWO_BV006.jpg?w=1000&quality=86&strip=all\")
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\n Richard Gere and Julia Roberts in \u2018Pretty Woman.\u2019<\/span> Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures \/ Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cWe ended up really trying to find a character there that made sense within the structure and the essence of what that piece was,\u201d Gere said. \u201cTo 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the success of Pretty Woman<\/i>, which <\/i>has since inspired a Broadway musical of the same name, Roberts and Gere teamed up again for 1999\u2019s Runaway Bride<\/a>. <\/i>The pair also haven\u2019t been opposed to reuniting a potential Pretty Woman <\/i>sequel.<\/p>\n\n
It wasn\u2019t until Gere met with Marshall, who died in 2016<\/a> at the age of 81, that he had a change of heart.<\/p>\n \u201cWe start talking about the script and I said, \u2018Look, I just don\u2019t see a character,\u2019\u201d Gere recalled, noting that Marshall replied that together they would \u201cfind\u201d the actor in Edward.<\/p>\n Gere then met with Roberts, who had already agreed to play Vivian. During the meeting, Marshall called to get Gere\u2019s opinion on the Steel Magnolias <\/i>star.<\/p>\n \u201cI said, \u2018She\u2019s adorable. She\u2019s great.\u2019 And while I\u2019m talking to him, she takes a Post-It off of my desk and she writes something on it,\u201d Gere said. \u201cThen she moves it across the table to me and it says, \u2018Please say yes.\u2019 So how could you say no to that?\u201d<\/p>\n The film was initially slated to be a gritty drama<\/a>, but Marshall eventually tweaked it into a romantic comedy.<\/p>\n \u201cWe ended up really trying to find a character there that made sense within the structure and the essence of what that piece was,\u201d Gere said. \u201cTo 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.\u201d<\/p>\n After the success of Pretty Woman<\/i>, which <\/i>has since inspired a Broadway musical of the same name, Roberts and Gere teamed up again for 1999\u2019s Runaway Bride<\/a>. <\/i>The pair also haven\u2019t been opposed to reuniting a potential Pretty Woman <\/i>sequel.<\/p>\n<\/div>
\n Richard Gere and Julia Roberts in \u2018Pretty Woman.\u2019<\/span> Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures \/ Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n