You're Never Going to Want to Let These Pretty Woman Secrets Go

Bethenny Frankel Has “Pretty Woman” Moment at Chanel Store in Chicago

When Disney released Pretty Woman, a rom-com about a sweet-natured prostitute played by an up-and-coming actress named Julia Roberts, audiences wouldn't have guessed it'd treat them so well they'd never wanna let it go.

Having played an impulsive waitress in Mystic Pizza and a bride-to-be with a fondness for pink in Steel Magnolias, Georgia native Roberts made a sharp, stiletto-heeled turn when she signed on to play Vivian, the girlfriend-for-hire Richard Gere's Edward falls hard for after he pays her $3,000 dollars to spend the week with him.

In an industry where everybody's got a dream, the March 23, 1990 release, streaming free now, on Fandango, wasn't exactly the stuff of fairy tales, but it was so good, audiences almost peed their pants.

Made for $17 million by iconic director Garry Marshall, who passed away in 2016, the highly quotable flick went on to gross over $460 million worldwide, earn four Golden Globe nominations and an Oscar nod and turn Roberts into a household name.

And not only did it become one of 1990's most successful films—just barely edged out by Ghost and Home Alone—it's endured as one of cinema's most treasured love stories.

But did you know several other actresses almost stepped into Vivian's thigh-high boots?

Not that Molly Ringwald feels like she made a big mistake (huge!) by passing on the part.

"Julia Roberts was wonderful in it, but I didn't really like the story," she explained to The Guardian in 2023. "Even then, I felt like there was something icky about it."

As it turns out, the original script, titled $3,000 as a reference to Edward's payout, was far grittier. And that's just one secret we've uncovered about the classic.

So be still like vegetables, lay like broccoli and learn more about the beloved film that ends with Roberts' Vivian rescuing businessman Edward right back. (Until, as Roberts guessed on a 2023 episode of CBS Mornings, "He passed away peacefully in his sleep from a heart attack, smiling. And now she runs his business.")