Happy 30th Anniversary to 'Pretty Woman'!

Mar 24, 2020 by apost team

A major pop culture moment of the 1990s, Pretty Woman was the movie that shot Julia Roberts to stardom. Acting alongside Hollywood heartthrob Richard Gere, the movie came out in 1990 and next week celebrates its 30th anniversary. To celebrate this, Entertainment Tonight has revealed exclusive archival footage from behind-the-scenes of the film's shoot. In it, we hear Roberts discuss her role, as well as background information from the late director Garry Marshall.

In the beginning of the video from ET, Roberts jokes that Pretty Woman is "A Disney movie!" She's sitting on set during the making of the film in 1990, wearing her character Vivian's costume. It's surreal to see a never-before-seen candid moment that's connected to a movie so iconic and ingrained in our minds.

The video intersperses clips from the film with short on-set interviews with Roberts and Marshall, who both give background information on the film and characters, as well as about Roberts' career at that point in time.

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Marshall states: "I didn't know Julia Roberts, but Julia Roberts, I think is gonna be a big, big movie star of the '90s." He wasn't wrong, and not only was she big (HUGE!) in the '90s, her career continued to grow, culminating in her iconic Oscar win in 2001 for her role as Erin Brockovich in the film of the same name. She was also nominated for an Oscar for her turn as Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman, among other times.

Roberts talked of her role as Vivian fondly, explaining: "I would describe her as very animated. And she's a good-hearted person. She's a little misguided, but she's a good girl. I like her."

She also discusses in the video that she did research by talking to prostitutes herself, saying: "I talked to a lot of girls and it was fascinating to hear their stories and to see the way they looked and they dressed. It wasn't like you kind of imagine, real tarty, they look like just a girl that you would know from school and they were all very kind and very insightful." 

ET's video brings back all kinds of memories of the iconic 1990 film, making it ripe for a rewatch in order to celebrate its 30th anniversary. From the fashion to the decadent vision of Beverly Hills life, Pretty Woman was a stunning film, but also had a lot of heart. The film's plot about a naive prostitute who's a good girl at heart and is only looking for love is heartwarming and something we can all identify with, even if we can't with the other aspects of the film's plot.

Do you remember when Pretty Woman was released 30 years ago? And how has it aged for you? Let us know in the comments and be sure to pass this on to your family and friends.