The Cast of “Pretty Woman”: Where Are They Now?

It's been 34 years since Richard Gere and Julia Roberts charmed audiences in their 1990 classic. See what the cast of 'Pretty Woman' is up to now

When PEOPLE reviewed Pretty Woman in 1990, the critic called it "a sweetheart of an old-fashioned romantic comedy" with "charm derived mostly from its cast," namely stars Julia Roberts and Richard Gere.

Audiences agreed: since its release on March 23 of that year, the iconic romantic comedy from director Garry Marshall has earned more than $178 million at box offices worldwide.

Though PEOPLE wrote "the love story, self-consciously fairy-tale-like as it is, is hard to resist," Roberts told The Guardian in 2019 that "I don't really think you could make that movie now. So many things you could poke a hole in, but I don’t think it takes away from people being able to enjoy it."

Here, on the film's 34th anniversary, catch up with its beloved stars, then and now.

Julia Roberts as Vivian Ward

In her 2019 Guardian interview, Roberts shared that she landed the role of Vivian Ward — a prostitute hired by Gere's Edward Lewis as a companion during a business trip — after eight actresses turned it down.

"It really is not a measure of talent, particularly in the beginning," she said. "It's a measure of good fortune — and being able to have your wits about you enough to make something out of that good fortune."

Roberts was on a hot streak when she got the job, coming off her breakout in Mystic Pizza and her Oscar-nominated part in Steel Magnolias. Pretty Woman earned the star her first Best Actress Oscar nod — a category she'd win 10 years later for Erin Brockovich.

In the years since Pretty Woman, Roberts has been everywhere, from popular '90s dramas and comedies like The Pelican Brief, Hook, Sleeping with the Enemy and My Best Friend's Wedding to Broadway's Three Days of Rain. More recently she featured in the limited series Gaslit and Homecoming.

Off-screen, Roberts, 56, has three teen children with husband Danny Moder.

Richard Gere as Edward Lewis

Gere had been a movie mainstay since the 1970s when he signed on as the somewhat cold workaholic Edward Lewis, with films like American Gigolo, An Officer and a Gentleman and Internal Affairs on his résumé. But Pretty Woman remains a high point.

"You can't program it," he told HuffPost Live in 2015 of the film's success. "If you could there'd be a thousand of them now. It had some magic in terms of her, me, the story, the director ... it just happened."

He's been working non-stop in the years since, notably in And the Band Played On, which earned him a Primetime Emmy nomination, and Chicago, for which he won an Golden Globe for his portrayal of Billy Flynn.

Gere, 74, has one grown child with ex-wife Carey Lowell and two young children with wife Alejandra Silva.

Laura San Giacomo as Kit De Luca

PEOPLE's review called Laura San Giacomo "likably crude, gaudy and gold-hearted" as Vivian's roommate and colleague, Kit De Luca.

In a 2023 interview on the Two Dollar Late Fee podcast, San Giacomo said she hadn't seen the movie since 1990. However it "was really beautiful and fun to work on" thanks in large part to director Marshall. "People loved him," she added. "He was very fun and joyful."

The actress had appeared in a handful of TV shows before her 1989 breakout in Sex, Lies and Videotape, and after Pretty Woman went on to a long list of films and perhaps most notably, series including Just Shoot Me and Saving Grace. Most recently she's appeared on Barry and NCIS.

San Giacomo, 61, has one adult child with ex-husband Cameron Dye. She is currently married to actor Matt Adler.

Hector Elizondo as Barney Thompson

Longtime character actor Hector Elizondo played kind hotel manager Barney Thompson, who helps Vivian modify her clothes (and attitude) for Edward's engagements.

Another cast member who started on the Broadway stage, he found Pretty Woman's success brought him much attention.

"It's a film that I was not interested in, quite frankly, when I saw the premiere," he told The A.V. Club in 2021. "But for some reason it came by at the right time, touched the right chord, and became this thing that's bigger than life, and all of a sudden I find out that I’m gonna get a [Golden Globe Award] nomination. It still turns my head."

Elizondo, already a frequent collaborator of Marshall's, starred in all 18 of the director's major films. He also reunited with Gere and Roberts in 1999's Runaway Bride, in addition to working extensively in television through the years, earning an Emmy for Chicago Hope and more recently featuring on Last Man Standing, Grey's Anatomy, B Positive and Monk.

The actor, now 87, has been married to Carolee Campbell since 1969, and has one son from a previous relationship.

Jason Alexander as Philip Stuckey

Jason Alexander was already a household name thanks to a little show called Seinfeld when he took his sleazy turn in Pretty Woman as Philip Stuckey, a colleague of Edward's who figures out Vivian's true profession and propositions her.

"I was not what [Garry Marshall] had in his head," Alexander recalled on the Inside of You podcast in 2021. "He thought I was too young, too babyfaced and too small. He knew that there was this physical confrontation with Richard Gere's role. So I was a non-starter for Garry. He knew who he wanted and they couldn't make a deal with that guy, and now the movie was shooting and that role has to start and they don't have anybody. And the casting director [Dianne Crittenden] loved me for this role."

After the casting director got Gere and Alexander together to tape a scene — and Gere gave the recording to Marshall — the magic happened. "At the end of our first day, he went, 'I was wrong, you're terrific!' He did a complete 180," Alexander shared. "Because of Dianne Crittenden and Richard Gere that movie happened for me."

Alexander would spend several more years on Seinfeld afterward — earning 10 Emmy nominations in that time — in addition to numerous movie and TV roles including Curb Your Enthusiasm, Harley Quinn and Kody Kapow. He also returned to his first love, Broadway, in 2015's Fish in the Dark.

Alexander, 64, has two children with wife Daena Title.

Ralph Bellamy as James Morse

Ralph Bellamy began acting in the 1930s, earning an Oscar nomination for 1938's The Awful Truth and Emmy nods for The United States Steel Hour, The Missiles of October and The Winds of War. By the time he signed on to Pretty Woman as James Morse — the owner of a company Gere's character hopes to acquire — he even had a Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, an honorary Oscar and a Tony Award for Sunrise at Campobello, one of his many lauded plays.

PEOPLE's review said he was "sturdy of voice and still a model of dignity" in the film, "elegantly" stepping into his role.

Pretty Woman would be his last film; Bellamy died in November of 1991 following a hospitalization for a lung ailment. He was 87 years old.

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