Richard Gere Remembers His First Meeting With Julia Roberts Ahead of "Pretty Woman": 'Please Say Yes'
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/richard-gere-julia-roberts-pretty-woman-031924-2060cce797e5478d8fa170158fc1ada3.jpg)
11/21/2024 01:28 PM
The actor said that the two first met just prior to filming the '90s romantic comedy, which was directed by the late Garry Marshall
Touchstone/Kobal/Shutterstock
Richard Gere and Julia Roberts in 'Pretty Women'Richard Gere is reminiscing on his long friendship with Julia Roberts, which started with a meeting in his office before he agreed to film Pretty Woman.
During a Nov. 20 appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, the 75-year-old actor said that the two first met prior to filming the '90s romantic comedy, which was directed by the late Garry Marshall.
"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.' "
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
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."
In a 2015 interview with TODAY around the 25th anniversary of Pretty Woman, Gere said he was "mesmerized" by Roberts during their initial meeting.
Touchstone/Kobal/Shutterstock
Richard Gere and Julia Roberts in 'Pretty Woman'.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 Woman served 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 wife Alejandra Silva's home country.
As he told Vanity Fair Spain in 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."
