Richard Gere: ‘Pretty Woman’ Piano Scene Improvised

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Richard Gere is getting candid about his 1990 movie “Pretty Woman.”

The actor recently celebrated his 75th birthday with fans at a masterclass hosted by Cartier at the Venice Film Festival, where he offered a glimpse into the process of filming for the hit film alongside Julia Roberts.

Reacting to a clip of the now famous, steamy piano scene, a blushing Gere joked that there was no connection between him and Roberts.

“No chemistry,” he said, according to Variety. “I mean, this actor and this actress, obviously, had no chemistry between them … I haven’t seen that in a long time, too. It was a sexy, sexy scene.”

The scene in question involves Gere’s character, Edward, sharing a passionate moment with Vivian (Roberts) as he plays a piano. At the masterclass, Gere revealed that it was improvised.

“This was never in the script.,” he said. “We didn’t know how we would use it later. It ended up being integral to the film.”

Gere went on to joke that he “was playing a character that was almost criminally underwritten.”

“It was basically a suit and a good haircut,” he said, adding that the scene idea came after the director asked him to imagine what his character might do while staying at the hotel.

“We just basically improvised this scene. I just started playing something moody that was about this character’s interior life,” he said,

In the film, Gere plays a wealthy but isolated businessman who hires Roberts’ character, an escort, to attend social events with him, and slowly falls in love with her. Gere said the improvised scene added depth to the movie because his character “was able to see him in a completely different way. There was a mysterious yearning and maybe a damaged quality to this guy that she didn’t know.”

Produced on a reported $14 million budget, the film went on to earn $463.4 million worldwide. Despite the success, Gere said that he and Roberts did not anticipate its success because they were just “having fun” making a movie.

“The whole time we made the movie, we didn’t know if anyone would ever see this,” he said.