Pretty Woman Bloopers and Behind-the-Scenes Secrets You Might Have Missed

From a breakfast that changes between shots to the prank that made Julia Roberts laugh, here’s what to look for on your next watch

Watch Vivian Ward’s breakfast closely in Pretty Woman. As she talks to Edward Lewis in his hotel suite, she picks up a croissant. A few cuts later, she’s eating a pancake. It’s an easy switch to miss when Julia Roberts and Richard Gere are holding your attention, but once you see it, you’ll probably look for it every time.

The breakfast mix-up is only one of the surprises behind Garry Marshall’s 1990 romantic comedy. The film began as a darker screenplay, another famous actor read for Edward, and one of its best-known moments was filmed for the gag reel. Even Vivian’s red opera gown was almost a different color.

Pretty Woman started out as a much darker story

Screenwriter J.F. Lawton’s early script was called 3,000, a reference to the amount Edward agrees to pay Vivian to spend the week with him. The premise was familiar, but the story had a harsher view of the gap between a wealthy businessman and a woman making a living on the streets of Los Angeles. The early version ended with Edward leaving Vivian behind.

By the time the film reached theaters, Marshall and the filmmakers had reshaped it into a romance. The final scene, in which Edward climbs the fire escape to reach Vivian, gives the couple a future together. It’s hard to imagine that ending sharing a screenplay with the original farewell, even though both grew out of the same setup.

Al Pacino read for Edward before Richard Gere signed on

Al Pacino was among the actors considered for Edward Lewis. In a conversation with GQ, he recalled reading the script aloud with a young Julia Roberts and coming away impressed by her performance. The role ultimately went to Gere, who was still weighing the offer when he met Roberts.

Gere later recalled how she persuaded him during the cast’s 25th-anniversary reunion. While he was on the phone with Marshall, Roberts slid a handwritten note across the desk. It said, “Please say yes.” He did.

Vivian’s croissant turns into a pancake

The breakfast scene gives Edward a chance to explain what he does for a living while Vivian asks the questions that interest her. As the shots switch between them, the pastry in her hand becomes a pancake. The conversation carries right through the change, which helps explain how the switch can go unnoticed.

That’s a continuity error. The shots are meant to show one uninterrupted conversation, even though they were assembled from separate takes. If you want to spot it yourself, keep your eyes on Vivian’s hand as the camera cuts away from her and back again.

The studio wanted Vivian’s opera dress in black

Costume designer Marilyn Vance had a different color in mind. She wanted Vivian to wear red to the opera, and the gown she designed became one of the film’s most recognizable costumes. Its off-the-shoulder neckline and long white gloves give the scene a formal look, while the red draws your eye to Vivian as soon as she appears.

The brown-and-white polka-dot dress at the polo match serves a different purpose. It suits a daytime event where Vivian is meeting people from Edward’s business circle. Watch the two scenes back to back and you can see how Vance dressed Vivian for two very different rooms, even when Edward is the one bringing her into both.

The jewelry-box prank was meant for the gag reel

Before the opera, Edward opens a jewelry box to show Vivian the necklace she’ll wear that evening. When she reaches for it, he snaps the lid shut and she bursts out laughing. Marshall told the American Film Institute that he had filmed the bit as a prank for the gag reel. He also told Entertainment Tonight that the box was soft and that Roberts’s spontaneous laugh was what persuaded him to keep the take.

In the finished film, the laugh changes the mood of the scene. Vivian is dressed for an elaborate night out, and Edward has just presented her with a formal piece of jewelry. For a second, they’re simply two people who’ve made each other laugh.

Richard Gere played the piano scene himself

Gere said the late-night piano scene grew out of a conversation with Marshall. The director asked what he did when he couldn’t sleep in a hotel. Gere told him he sometimes found a piano in a bar or ballroom and played. Marshall asked him to do something similar for Edward, so Gere sat down and improvised a moody piece.

At a Venice Film Festival masterclass, Gere explained that the scene gave Vivian a chance to see Edward differently. Until then, she had mostly watched him negotiate, make plans, and tell other people what to do. At the piano, she catches him doing something he enjoys when he thinks he’s alone.