Richard Gere jokes that his “Pretty Woman ”character was 'criminally underwritten'

"It was basically a suit and a good haircut," said the actor while celebrating his 75th birthday at the Venice Film Festival.

Richard Gere celebrated his 75th birthday as so many do: by critiquing his past.

On Aug. 31, Gere marked his big day by leading a masterclass at the 81st Venice Film Festival, which saw him revisit a pivotal scene from Pretty Woman, his beloved 1990 rom-com with Julia Roberts. The clip centered a steamy interaction between the two actors, which earned a hearty applause from the crowd and plenty of sarcastic quips from Gere.

“I mean, no chemistry,” he jokingly declared, when the scene concluded, per The Hollywood Reporter. “This actor and this actress obviously had no chemistry between them.”

The scene in question sees Gere’s Edward undressing Roberts’ Vivian atop a hotel piano. The actor, who blushed through the applause, added, “I haven’t seen that in a long time. That’s a sexy scene.”

Related: Here’s where the Pretty Woman cast is now

Afterwards, Gere provided the crowd with some behind-the-scenes context for the scene, which he said was not originally included in the script and came about later as a means of exploring Edward’s “interior life.”

With a chuckle, Gere explained, “I was playing a character that was almost criminally underwritten. It was basically a suit and a good haircut.”

In an effort to remedy that, he and director Garry Marshall brainstormed the scene.

“Garry said to me, ‘What do you do at late at night in a hotel?'” Gere recalled. “And I said, ‘Well, I’m usually jet lagged, [that] would be the time I’m in a hotel. So I’m up all night and usually there’s a ballroom somewhere or a bar, and I’ll find a piano and I’ll play the piano.’ He said: ‘Well, let’s do something with that.’”

Gere was instructed to “play something moody,” which lead into the intimate moment between Edward and Vivian.

Related: Julia Roberts thinks Dorit's Pretty Woman-inspired anniversary gift on RHOBH was 'very strange'

Pretty Woman, which marked a career high for both actors, sees Gere as a stern buseinessman who pays a sex worker (Roberts) to masquerade as his girlfriend at several work events over the course of a single week. In true rom-com fashion, the fake couple slowly fall in love, complicating their arrangement as they both come to terms with their feelings.

“We were having fun making this little tiny movie,” Gere said of the film, when introducing the clip. “We didn’t know if anyone would ever see this little tiny movie. No one would ever pay attention to this little tiny movie.”

At the time of its release, Pretty Woman became the fifth-highest-grossing film of all time, after achieving a record-amount of tickets sales for a romantic comedy. As of 2024, the film has grossed over $463 million at the worldwide box office.

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Just last year, Roberts reflected on the movie as well, giving her thoughts on what became of Vivian and Edward’s happily ever after.

"I think he passed away peacefully in his sleep from a heart attack, smiling,” Roberts told interviewer Gayle King on CBS Mornings. “And now she runs his business.”

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