Before it became one of the most beloved romantic comedies ever made, Pretty Woman almost looked nothing like the film audiences know today. The original script, titled 3000, was a dark drama about a drug addicted sex worker, ending with her being thrown out of a limousine onto the street.
Director Garry Marshall reshaped it into the fairy-tale romance that followed.

Even then, Richard Gere wasn’t convinced the role of Edward was worth taking.
“It wasn’t a part, it was just nothing.
It was a suit, you can put a suit on a goat and put it out there, and it would work. I didn’t get it,” Gere said.

Marshall still had his sights set on Gere, even as he considered actor Charles Grodin for the part.
So he arranged a meeting between Gere and a then 21-year-old Julia Roberts, hoping their chemistry would speak for itself.