Hidden Mistakes Behind Pretty Woman!

This dark DNA still flickers at the edges of the final product. Even after Disney’s Touchstone Pictures purchased the script and insisted on a radical tonal shift toward romance, a certain grounded realism remained. You can see it in the early scenes on Hollywood Boulevard—the shadows feel a little longer, and the desperation feels a little sharper than in a typical romantic comedy. The film’s enduring power may actually stem from this internal conflict; it is a movie constantly trying to forget its own cynical origins, and that struggle gives it an emotional weight that pure fluff usually lacks.

Beyond the tonal shift, Pretty Woman is famous among film historians for a staggering number of continuity errors that have become part of its legend. These technical “mistakes” are so frequent that they almost feel like a stylistic choice. In one of the most famous examples, during a breakfast scene at the hotel, Vivian is shown eating a croissant. The camera cuts away to Edward for a brief moment, and when it returns to Vivian, she is suddenly holding a pancake. A few bites later, the pancake is whole again. In another scene, money seems to teleport between hands, and props vanish from tables only to reappear in different positions seconds later.

While some critics view these slips as sloppiness, others see them as a testament to the improvisational energy on set. Director Garry Marshall was notorious for prioritizing the “feel” of a performance over technical perfection. If a take had the right emotional spark, he would use it, even if the food on the plate didn’t match the previous shot. These errors don’t break the immersion for most viewers because the central romance is so magnetic; the audience is too busy looking at the leads to worry about the morphing breakfast food.

The casting of the film was another hurdle that nearly derailed the project. It is almost impossible today to imagine anyone other than Richard Gere and Julia Roberts in those roles, but they were far from the first choices. The role of Edward Lewis was turned down by a long list of heavyweights, including Al Pacino, Burt Reynolds, and Christopher Reeve. Pacino went as far as doing a screen test with Roberts before ultimately deciding the role wasn’t right for him. Richard Gere himself turned the part down multiple times, feeling that the character of Edward was a “suit” with no personality.

It was only after a meeting with a young, relatively unknown Julia Roberts that Gere changed his mind. Roberts was terrified, having been cast after several more established actresses, such as Molly Ringwald and Michelle Pfeiffer, passed on the role of Vivian. Sensing Gere’s hesitation, Roberts reportedly slid him a Post-it note that simply said, “Please say yes.” That spark of real-life vulnerability convinced Gere to sign on, and it became the foundation for the on-screen relationship.

The most famous moment in the film—the jewelry box snap—was actually a manifestation of this off-camera rapport. During the filming of the scene where Edward shows Vivian the diamond necklace, Roberts was tired and struggling to find the right energy. Marshall instructed Gere to snap the box shut on her fingers as a prank to wake her up. Her explosive, genuine laugh caught the crew off guard, but Marshall knew instantly that it was the heart of the movie. It was a moment of authentic joy in a world of manufactured glamour, and it perfectly encapsulated the “magic” that made audiences fall in love with the film.

However, the production was not all laughter. The shift from a gritty drama to a romantic fantasy meant that the actors had to find a way to make the central conceit—a business transaction turning into true love—believable. They had to navigate the moral complexities of the story while maintaining the “fairy tale” requirements of the studio. Roberts, in particular, had to balance Vivian’s streetwise toughness with a sense of innocence that would allow the audience to root for her transformation. It was a high-wire act that could have easily felt exploitative or saccharine, yet the leads managed to steer it into the center of the cultural zeitgeist.

In the decades since its release, Pretty Woman has faced its share of modern scrutiny. Critics often point to its “capitalism-as-salvation” themes and its sanitized depiction of a dangerous profession. Yet, the film persists as a favorite because it successfully sells a dream that people want to believe in: the idea that anyone, regardless of their circumstances, can be “seen” and valued for who they are beneath their exterior.