Ever watch the blooper reel for your favorite movie? In the streaming era, these reels feel like an artifact of the past. However, we’re big believers that you should snag a DVD or Blu-ray of your favorite films. Not only will this let you enjoy special features like blooper reels, but it ensures you’ll always have a way to return to your comfort food movies.
One of our biggest comfort food films has always been Pretty Woman. We didn’t think anything could make us love this movie more, but its blooper reel did the trick…after watching it, you may never see this movie the same way again. Don’t believe it? Keep reading to discover everything you need to know about this beloved film and its hilarious bloopers!
Pretty Woman launched a Hollywood icon’s career
Pretty Woman is a special film for many different reasons. One of them is that it launched Julia Roberts’ Hollywood career, turning her into a household name practically overnight. The world was seriously impressed by her acting skills, and she took home one of the industry’s greatest awards.
Thanks to her epic performance, Roberts took home the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical. On top of that, she was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress and the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Just like that, a Hollywood legend was born!
The movie nearly had a very different tone
It’s no secret why Pretty Woman is a comfort food film for millions of fans around the world. It strikes a perfect tone, with drama and comedy blending in equal measure. The end result is that no scenes are too serious and there’s always another laugh around the corner.
Originally, though, this movie was going to have a much darker tone. It was going to be a stark message about prostitution with a protagonist who struggles with drug addiction and gets rejected by Edward at the end. This might have been interesting to watch, but such a depressing movie would probably never have become a runaway hit.
Making the most of the movie’s budget
While it’s hard to take your eyes off the hot actors in this film, one thing that helps Pretty Woman stand out from similar films is that it has so many beautiful locations. Why are there so many great scenes shot in iconic locations? Simple: the film had a very healthy budget.
With a budget of $14 million, there was plenty of spare cash to shoot scenes around Beverly Hills and Los Angeles. This ultimately helped the film appeal to both those who frequently visited the West Coast and others (us included) who liked to live vicariously through this cinematic California romp.
The film’s most famous moment was improvised
Obviously, Pretty Woman has plenty of great moments that highlight the wild charisma of our lead characters. Ask any superfan what the best moment is, though, and they’ll give you the same answer: the moment that Richard Gere’s character snapped the jewelry case on Julia Roberts’ hand, resulting in her peel of delightfully contagious laughter.
As it turns out, this scene was completely improvised…Gere mostly wanted to surprise his costar and see what she would do. It’s the kind of spontaneous fun you can find in scene after scene of the blooper reel. In this case, though, the scene made it into the final film, meaning that Roberts’ great laugh is her genuine reaction to Gere’s sudden prank!
The movie was very stressful for Julia Roberts
Based on the charisma between Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, you might think that she had a great time filming this movie. While the blooper reel reveals an actress having plenty of fun, there were also some very stressful moments from her. And before long, that stress began to take its toll on her health.
At one point during filming, Roberts developed a nasty case of hives, and she had to have plenty of calamine lotion before she could get back to work. And during the famous love scene, she developed a stress vein on her forehead so bad that Richard Gere and director Garry Marshall had to help massage it until it went away.
A killer blooper reel
Most people never got to see the Pretty Woman blooper reel until the film came out on DVD. Thanks to the extra space on the disc, we got plenty of special features, including a commentary track. As for us, though, nothing was quite as fascinating the bloopers.
Some of the silly scenes include Richard Gere making faces in order to crack Julia Roberts up. Above all else, though, these clips reveal how well the two actors got along, and Gere later revealed that their natural charisma is what persuaded him to accept the role. He didn’t do so, though, until Roberts wrote him a note saying “please say yes,” causing him to agree to the role during a sudden phone call from the director!