When Disney released Pretty Woman, a romantic comedy about a sweet-natured prostitute played by an up-and-coming actress named Julia Roberts, audiences wouldn’t have guessed it would treat them so well they’d never want to let it go.
Having portrayed an impulsive waitress in Mystic Pizza and a bride-to-be with a fondness for pink in Steel Magnolias, Georgia native Roberts made a sharp, stiletto-heeled turn when she signed on to play Vivian, the girlfriend-for-hire Richard Gere‘s Edward falls hard for after he pays her $3,000 to spend the week with him.
In an industry where everybody has a dream, the March 23, 1990 release wasn’t exactly the stuff of fairy tales, but it was so good that audiences almost lost control.
Made for $17 million by iconic director Garry Marshall, who passed away in 2016, the highly quotable film went on to gross over $460 million worldwide, earn four Golden Globe nominations and an Oscar nod, and turn Roberts into a household name.
And not only did it become one of 1990’s most successful films—just barely edged out by Ghost and Home Alone—it has endured as one of cinema’s most treasured love stories.
