‘Pretty Woman’ star Richard Gere claims ‘sexy scene’ with Julia Roberts was made up: ‘It was never in the script’

Richard Gere has shared a secret about one of his most iconic film roles.

The 75-year-old actor spoke at a masterclass at the Venice Film Festival on Sunday, where he showed a clip of his and Julia Roberts’ infamous piano scene in “Pretty Woman,” prompting Gere to joke that the two have “no chemistry.”

“I haven’t seen that in a long time, either. It was a sexy, sexy scene,” he said, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

According to Gere, this scene from the 1990 film was actually modeled after a conversation between Gere and director Garry Marshall.

“It was never in the script,” he said. “We didn’t know how we would use it later. It became an integral part of the film.”

At that moment, wealthy businessman Edward Lewis plays the piano at the hotel at midnight when sex worker Vivian Ward (Roberts) enters in a bathrobe. Edward asks the staff to leave them alone, and they begin to have fun at the piano.

“Gary asked me, ‘What do you do late at night at the hotel?’ and I said, ‘Well, I’m usually suffering from jet lag, [that] “It’s the time I’m at the hotel. So I stay up all night and there’s usually a ballroom or a bar somewhere, and I find a piano and play the piano,” Gere recalled. “He said: ‘Okay, let’s do something with this.'”

Gere said, “So we basically improvised the scene, and he said: ‘Play something moody.'” “I just started playing something moody that reflected the inner life of this character.”

“Pretty Woman,” which grossed $463.4 million at the box office, follows Vivian, a Los Angeles prostitute who is hired by a wealthy businessman to accompany him to various events over the weekend. They fall in love and move in together.

The film earned 56-year-old Roberts a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination.

At the festival, Gere — who, unlike Roberts, did not win an Oscar for his role in “Pretty Woman” — admitted he felt his character was “criminally underrated.”

“It was basically a suit and a good haircut,” he said.

Before a clip of the piano scene in Venice was shown, Gere joked that “Pretty Woman” was a “great little movie” whose director was “amazing.”

“But we were having fun making this little movie,” he said. “We didn’t know if anybody would ever see this little movie. Nobody would ever pay attention to this little movie.”

Last year, Roberts said in an interview,CBS Mornings, He was asked where would Edward and Vivian’s romance be today?

“I think he passed away peacefully in his sleep from a heart attack, smiling,” Roberts said. “And now she runs his business.”