The one scene Richard Gere refused to shoot: “I’m not doing that”
In an ideal world, every actor would love to play at least one iconic character. It’s one of the easiest ways to gain a foothold in an industry with a notoriously short memory, and in some cases, it can provide the foundation for an entire career. Richard Gere has been in a few movies that stand the test of time, but his most famous role was one he played for the most cynical reasons.
After making a name for himself in Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven, showcasing his star power in Paul Schrader’s American Gigolo, and making audiences swoon in An Officer and a Gentleman, Gere underlined his potential to become one of the most in-demand leading men of his generation.
Things didn’t quite work out that way, though, with the actor failing to capitalise on that momentum. It wasn’t that he fell off the map completely, but a string of poor choices, including a Razzie-nominated turn in King David, neo-noir flop No Mercy, and Francis Ford Coppola’s calamitous The Cotton Club, saw him slip down the pecking order.
Gere knew that he needed a hit to rejuvenate his flagging career, which forced him to put on his business hat. Instead of seeking out the most challenging material that would allow him to test himself as a performer and distance himself from his sex symbol reputation, he sniffed out what seemed like a surefire shot at box office glory, but only after Burt Reynolds had passed.
He wasn’t the first choice to play Edward Lewis in Garry Marshall’s Pretty Woman, and it’s not a film he holds in particularly high esteem. It’s not like the passage of time has made him turn against it either, with Gere admitting the driving force behind his decision to sign on was that he needed the money almost as much as he needed a win in the box office column.
It was the right move after Pretty Woman became the highest-grossing release in his filmography, a benchmark that’s never been bettered. He also landed a Golden Globe nod for ‘Best Actor – Musical or Comedy’, so his call to sacrifice his creative intentions in favour of nailed-on commercial glory was as shrewd as it was successful.
Still, even though his performance was driven largely by the dollar signs flashing in his eyes, there was one scene he refused to shoot. This being Gere in a romantic comedy, appearing without his shirt on at least once was almost an obligation, but the actor put his foot down when the script called for him to drop his kecks and show ass.
“The one thing with Richard is that I remember there was a bathtub scene, and it started out with just Richard in the bath, and they wanted him to be nude,” costume supervisor Dan Lester told Metro. “And he’s like, ‘I’m not doing that’. Like, ‘Well, that’s what it says in the script.”
Just because the screenplay said his character was in the buff, it didn’t mean Gere was going to strip off for the cameras. “He’s like, ‘This movie is not about that,'” Lester explained. “I’m not going to do it. I’m going to be covered, whether it’s bubbles, or you know, the scene is going to take place outside. I’m not going to be naked in the bath. We’re not doing that.'”
Would Gere’s bare arse have sold more tickets? Maybe, maybe not. Either way, he wouldn’t do it, and it hardly hampered Pretty Woman.
