We all know, deep down, that fairy tales are bullshit. But when Pretty Woman hit the big screen in 1990, we somehow bought into the idea that a Hollywood hooker—even one that looked like Julia Roberts—could somehow win the heart of a successful, gorgeous, romantic Prince Charming.
We suspended disbelief because we had to. The chemistry was that good between Roberts and Richard Gere, the aforementioned successful, gorgeous, romantic Prince Charming—or in this case, a ruthless M&A guy with a sensitive side. But what many of us didn’t realize while we were watching the sexy rom-com (which turns 25 this year!), the plot was quite different from the original film written by J.F. Lawton.
According to an article in this month’s Vanity Fair, Lawton’s original screenplay, written in the late 1980s, was called $3,000 (read it here), named after the amount of money Gere’s character, Edward, agrees to pay Robert’s character, Vivian. A dark fable about socio-economic inequality and a take-no-prisoners Hollywood, $3,000 contains some of the scenes we eventually saw onscreen, including Vivian’s embarrassing visit to a Rodeo Drive boutique and a trip to the opera. But the original final scene is much darker: Instead of Edward climbing up the fire escape to Vivian’s apartment with a bouquet of flowers, Vivian and her friend Kit are riding a Disneyland-bound bus (ironic since the film would be produced by Disney), with Vivian staring into the distance.
Several actresses had been considered for the role of Vivian, including Michelle Pfeiffer, Molly Ringwald and Diane Lane, but most turned it down because they were either reluctant to play a prostitute or disliked the tone of the screenplay. Enter newcomer Roberts, whose radiant beauty and infectious cackle demanded that director Gary Marshall deliver a more lighthearted film. According to Hollywood legend, executive producer Laura Ziskin suggested the last line of the film—”She rescued him right back”—to soften the damsel-in-distress ending.
Still, we understood that the chances of a prostitute and a high-powered suit pulling off a real-life relationship were, at best, laughable. But, again, we suspended that disbelief and made the movie a blockbuster, Roberts a huge star, and our own hearts leap just a little when Edward lifted Vivian in the air and kissed her.
Fairytales may be bullshit, but they’re the stuff Hollywood is made of.
