Manuel here to share my love for Julia Roberts on the 25th anniversary of that 1990 blockbuster, the movie that netted the star her second consecutive Oscar nomination.
Roberts is the first movie star I ever obsessed over. She was my American sweetheart even though I was nowhere near America and didn’t quite understand what being a “sweetheart” meant. All I knew was that her laugh was infectious, her smile gargantuan and her charm inescapable. This was most (if not all) in part to Pretty Woman. I cannot recall where or how I got to watch the film that made her a megawatt star (I was barely 4 when it came out so I was obviously a late convert) but years of cable reruns made Julia a staple of what here at the TFE would dub my budding actressexuality.
She would later win me over completely with My Best Friend’s Wedding and Erin Brockovich (not to mention my probably unhealthy obsession with Mike Nichol’s Closer) but Julia’s Vivian Ward is a thing of beauty. Yes, it’s a movie star turn in that Roberts’s charm papers over the dark undertones of film and character alike, but she’s so damn watchable. And has been ever since.
And so, while the fascinating behind the scenes changes to Pretty Woman are juicy textbook examples of Hollywood productions sanding over prickly themes and storylines in favor of saccharine fairy tale heteronormativity, there’s no denying how accomplished a film Pretty Woman really is: it is a shining example of great movie star chemistry (I still hold out hope for a third Gere/Roberts pairing after the middling if still enjoyable Runaway Bride nine years later).
As of late, she may have given us a one-two punch of angry, embittered women in a row (with her next two projects unlikely to flash us her toothy smile) but time and time again I go back to Julia’s laugh and those two pivotal moments in Pretty Woman where her laughter fills the screen and sells the chemistry between her and Gere. The first, of course, is the I Love Lucy scene where Roberts’ near-maniacal laughs begin the not-so-long and not-so-drawn-out-process of breaking down business-minded Edward with her charm and her street-smarts. Allegedly, Gary Marshall had to tickle Julia throughout this scene to get the booming cackles we hear as Vivian watches Lucy stomp some grapes.
The other scene.
Well, the other scene is iconic: donning a beautiful red dress, Vivian is offered a beautiful necklace and as she’s about to examine it closely, Edward playfully snaps the jewelry box on her causing her to lose it. The shot was an outtake where Gere was improvising, but can you blame Marshall for committing Julia’s reaction to film?
Other actresses are great at making me cry, making me think, making me reflect, but few are as easily able to make me laugh as Julia. Whether she’s bitchily calling out Rodeo Drive shopping staff, or making snails fly out of her plate, Roberts’ effervescent on-screen persona - pretty much embalmed and emblazoned in Vivian Ward - is a cackle and a smirk, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
And so, enjoy:
Pretty Woman Laughter Supercut from Manuel Betancourt on Vimeo.