Propelled to the height of fame thanks to her role in the cult romantic comedy Pretty Woman in the early 90s, Julia Roberts almost missed out on the film that made her a star… Explanations.
In 1990, Vivian Ward’s role in Pretty Woman allows Julia Roberts to become known to the general public and thus become a movie star. However, the film was originally very different from the feel-good romantic comedy we know today. Indeed, the scenario was much darker and the ending tragic…
Pretty Woman was a completely different film originally
During an interview for the specialized American media VarietyJulia Roberts et Patricia Arquette – who had auditioned for the role of Vivian Ward – remembered the original script of Pretty Woman Who was titled 3000 (referring to the 3000 dollars that Edward gives Vivian to spend the week with him).
« This movie was very dark and the ending was harsh. It really felt like a dark and gritty film” says Patricia Arquette. For her part, Julia Roberts notably remembers a scene where Vivian was thrown from a car, which was “threw the money at her” and that she was “left in a dark alley”.
Julia Roberts lost the role of Vivian Ward… then got it back
Despite everything, the actress managed to land the role at the timeeven if she specifies that she had not “nothing to do in a film like this”.
But now, a few days after Julia Roberts was cast as Vivian Ward, the film’s production company closed. “There was a producer who stayed and then it was taken over by Disney. I was like, ‘Was this really picked up by Disney? Are they going to make it into an animated film? How does this become a Disney movie?’ » says the star.
The film was in fact bought by Disney but did not become an animated feature film. Garry Marshallthe director, took over the reins of the project 3000 and made it Pretty Womanthis modern-day fairy tale…
“Thank God it fell through” Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman)
Julia Roberts, who had already been cast in the role of Vivian Ward, was then called back by Garry Marshall who wanted to meet her. “I think, being a great human being, he wanted to see me because I got the part and he felt it would be right to at least meet me since I got the part for three days before losing it » Julia Roberts remembers.
And to add: “And they changed the whole thing and it became something that was more up my alley than it was originally.”.
During their interview for VarietyPatricia Arquette admits that she would dream of seeing Julia Roberts play in a modern version of the original script, to which the main interested party responds: « I couldn’t do it then, I couldn’t do it today. Thank God it fell through”.
