Julia Roberts reveals what iconic 90s movie Pretty Woman was REALLY meant to be about – and lets slip the movie’s original name and intended ending on Graham Norton

The 90s film Pretty Woman is one of Julia Roberts' most famous films, but it was originally intended to tell a very different story.

Julia appeared on the latest episode of The Graham Norton Show – which airs on Friday – alongside fellow guests Timothee Chalamet, Tom Hanks and Cher.

Graham made sure to ask Julia about the movie, and then she admitted that it was meant to be “much darker” than it ended up being.

The 56-year-old actress played, among other things, the prostitute Vivian, who was hired by Edward – played by Richard Gere. The pair fell in love after he initially hired her to accompany him to a number of social events.

Julia said, “It was going to be a much darker movie called $3,000 (the price for Vivian to spend the night with Edward).”

Julia played the role of prostitute Vivian Ward in the beloved 1990 film Pretty Woman

She explained that the film was originally supposed to be called 3000 and not have ended with Vivian and Edward falling in love.

Julia starred in Pretty Woman alongside Richard Gere, who played Edward Lewis

'Vivian was a drug addict and the film ended with him leaving her on a side street, throwing the money at her and driving away.

'I got that role in that film and was very proud, but when the production company went bankrupt and the film disappeared, I was crushed. But then Disney took what seemed so unlikely and made it funny.”

Julia's latest comments on 3000 come after she spoke about the original idea for 'Pretty Woman' in 2019.

After discussing the previous script idea, Julia admitted that she had “nothing to do with such a film” in a 2019 conversation with Patricia Arquette for Variety's Actors on Actors series.

She added, “There was one producer who stuck with the script and then it went to Disney. And I said, “went to Disney? Are they going to animate it? How is this going to be a Disney movie?”

Julia now stars in the new Netflix film Leave The World Behind.

The Mona Lisa Smile star spoke to Graham about starring in the film, saying: 'I was sent the book by the director who told me I would love it and should read it as soon as possible, but I just couldn't because it scared me and as soon as it got dark I had to get away from it.

'The film is creepy and frightening, but so good.'

Julia appeared on The Graham Norton Show along with other guests (from left to right) Cher, host Graham, Tom Hanks and Timothee Chalamet

Speaking about Barack and Michelle Obama's involvement in the film, Julia added: 'They are brilliant people and wonderful people who have made the world a better place, so when they said they were interested in working on the film through their production company working together, I was very excited.”

Leave The World Behind tells the story of a family vacation on Long Island that takes an unexpected turn after a cyberattack disables their devices and two strangers show up at their door.

The film also stars Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, Kevin Bacon, Myha'la Herrol and more.

The Graham Norton Show airs on BBC One on Friday 30 November at 10.40pm.