Richard Gere Reveals One of His Beloved Roles Was ‘Criminally Underwritten’

Richard Gere believes the script for “Pretty Woman” falls short in its depiction of his character, Edward Lewis, who is a millionaire playboy. Speaking at the Venice Film Festival during a masterclass on Sunday, the actor humorously described his role as “almost criminally underwritten.”

“It was basically a suit and a good haircut,” Gere joked, eliciting laughter from the audience, as captured in a clip shared by Chris Gardner of The Hollywood Reporter.

To add depth to his character, Gere revealed that he and director Garry Marshall improvised one of the film’s key scenes—a romantic moment where Lewis plays the piano for Julia Roberts’ character, Vivian, who is a spirited sex worker. This sequence leads to an intimate encounter between the two characters.

After showing the clip during the masterclass, Gere quipped, “This actor and this actress obviously had no chemistry between them,” causing further amusement.

He then explained that the piano scene was “never in the script” but “ended up being integral to the film.” Marshall had asked him what he typically does late at night in a hotel, to which Gere responded that he is usually jet lagged and finds a piano in a ballroom or bar to play.

“Garry said, ‘Well, let’s do something with that.’ So we just basically improvised this scene, and he said, ‘Play something moody.’ I just started playing something moody that was this character’s interior life,” Gere recounted.

This spontaneous moment revealed a vulnerable side of Lewis, allowing Roberts’ character to see him “in a completely different way.” Gere described this as showcasing “a mysterious yearning and maybe a damaged quality to this guy that she didn’t know.”

Despite “Pretty Woman” becoming a massive global success, grossing $463.4 million worldwide, Gere recalled the project in more humble terms. “We were having fun making this,” he shared with his Venice audience. “The whole time we made the movie, we didn’t know if anyone would ever see this.”

Source: The Hollywood Reporter, HuffPost