Richard Gere Remembers His First Meeting With Julia Roberts Ahead ofPretty Woman: 'Please Say Yes'

Mar. 15, 2025

Richard Gere and Julia Roberts in ‘Pretty Women’.Photo:Touchstone/Kobal/Shutterstock

Touchstone/Kobal/Shutterstock

Richard Gereis reminiscing on his long friendship withJulia Roberts, which started with a meeting in his office before he agreed to filmPretty Woman.

“She had made, I think, one film before [Pretty Woman] —Mystic Pizza, and Gary Marshall … He put us together,” Gere recounted.

He continued: “I remember Julia came to see me in New York and he said, ‘Richard, Julia, she’s good. She’s good, you’ll like her.’ So she came to New York, came to my office, Gary introduced us, and he left. And he called back like 45 minutes later and he said, ‘How’s it going?’ "

“And I said, ‘It’s Gary.’ So I’m talking to Gary, and she’s on the other side of the desk and she’s writing something on one of my Post-its. Then she turns around and puts it down, and I read it and it says, ‘Please say yes.’ So I said, ‘Gary, I think I just said yes.’ "

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Gere said Roberts reminded him of that story during the film’s 25th anniversary celebrations.

“We had such a good time making that,” Gere said. “It was really kind of a magic moment for all of us.”

Richard Gere and Julia Roberts in ‘Pretty Woman’.Touchstone/Kobal/Shutterstock

Marshall, meanwhile, recalled seeing the sparks fly after the actors warmed up to one another.

“I came out and I saw the two of them at the end of a hall just looking at each other, and right there, I said, look at that chemistry. They don’t know each other, and they’re doing great,” the director shared at the time.

Pretty Womanserved as a breakthrough role for Roberts, scoring her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.

She and Gere would go on to star as romantic interests in another Marshall film,Runaway Bride,and have stayed in touch over the years.

Gere and his family recently moved to Spain, his wifeAlejandra Silva’s home country.

As he toldVanity FairSpainin April, “For Alejandra, it will be wonderful to be closer to her family, her lifelong friends and her culture. She was very generous in giving me six years living in my world, so it is only fair that I give her at least another six living in hers.”

source: people.com