It was a role that cemented Richard Gere as one of Hollywood's most compelling leading men, but the actor admitted he didn't watch his performance in Pretty Woman for a long time.
The star spoke Sunday during a masterclass at the 81st Venice Film Festival on the art and craft of filmmaking through acting, screenwriting, lighting, scoring and dubbing.
To kick off the conversation, it was noted that Gere celebrated his 75th birthday.The birthday on Saturday, so the crowd erupted in cheers of “Happy Birthday,” after which he dutifully thanked everyone.
The personal touches continued during the masterclass, as the actor was shown a clip from his first film role, Days of Paradise (1978) which, he admitted, made him “so emotional.” He immediately pointed to his son, Homer, and asked him to stand up for the audience. “I think I'm just a little bit older [in Days of Heaven] of him and he's starting his acting career now. And he's really good. He's really good.”
But the loudest applause from the audience at the Venice Tennis Club—and a few swoons—came from a scene in the 1990 hit romantic comedy in which Gere's character Edward, a wealthy businessman, is playing at the piano when prostitute Vivian (Julia Roberts) enters. A steamy interaction ensues, with Edward undressing Vivian and sitting her on the piano, groping her breastbone.
“I mean, no chemistry,” the actor sarcastically states, prompting laughter from the audience. “This actor and actress obviously had no chemistry… I hadn't seen that in a long time. It's a sexy scene.” But despite the on-screen sparks, even Gere confessed to believing his character was “criminally underwritten”: “It was basically a dress and a good haircut,” he said.
The scene was improvised to accommodate Gere's piano talents, Gere also revealed, describing a conversation with director Garry Marshall. “And Garry said to me, 'What do you do late at night in a hotel?'” he said. “And I said, 'Well, I'm usually jet lagged, [that] would be the time when I'm in a hotel. So I'll stay up all night and usually there's a ballroom somewhere or a bar, and I'll find a piano and play the piano.' He said, 'Well, let's do something with that.' So we just improvised this scene, and he said, 'Play something melancholic.' I started playing something melancholic that was the inner life of this character.”
Before the clip was shown, he also joked about the film's reception. “This is a movie, a very small movie with a wonderful director named Garry Marshall,” Gere began. “But we had fun making this tiny little movie. We didn't know if anyone would ever see this tiny little movie. No one would ever pay attention to this tiny little movie.”
Starting in 2024, Pretty Woman grossed over $460 million at the worldwide box office and, at the time of its release, was the fifth highest-grossing film of all time.
The event, held Sunday morning inside the Master Point Arena of the Tennis Club Venezia on the Lido, was moderated by Stepháne Lerouge, film music expert and curator of the Ecoutez le cinema record collection. Gere’s conversation was part of festival sponsor Cartier’s series of masterclasses on the art and craft of cinema.
Other masterclass events from the luxury jewelry house include Nicola Piovani (composer, Life is beautiful) and Claude Lelouch (Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker award).