Why did Molly Ringwald turn down lead role in ‘Pretty Woman’?

Molly Ringwald dominated many romantic comedies of the 1980s and 1990s. She has an extensive resume including iconic films such as ‘The Breakfast Club,’ ‘Sixteen Candles,’ and ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’.

However, the actress could have also added ‘Pretty Woman,’ to her list of iconic roles but she chose not to. Recently, Ringwald opened up about how he turned down the lead role in ‘Pretty Woman’ because she wasn’t too fond of the storyline.

In a new interview with The Guardian, the actress revealed decades later why exactly she turned down Julia Roberts’ eventual role in the 1990s classic, ‘Pretty Woman’.

Something ‘icky’ about it

“Julia Roberts was wonderful in it, but I didn’t really like the story,” Ringwald told the outlet. “Even then, I felt like there was something icky about it.”

The romantic comedy follows a sex worker hired by a businessman to be his date. The unlikely pair grow closer over a weekend of adventures in Los Angeles.

Ringwald also disclosed several other roles she didn’t land to The Guardian, including hit movies ‘Silence of the Lambs,’ and ‘Working Girl’. She explained her apprehension about taking on so-called “darker roles.”

“‘She really needs to be at that moment where you feel the pain,’” she remembers Working Girl director Mike Nichols saying in the late 1980s. “‘You have your whole life ahead of you — nobody’s going to believe that of you.’”

“I didn’t really feel like darker roles were available to me,” the actress added of that period in her career. “The ones that I wanted to do, I didn’t get. I was too young for certain roles. I was at this weird in-between stage.”

Early drafts and an unofficial title

This isn’t the first time Ringwald was spoken about passing up ‘Pretty Woman,’ in a 2012 ‘Ask Me Anything’ question form on Reddit, Ringwald got candid about the offer and how she didn’t exactly remember it as a pass.

“I think I saw an early draft and it was called $3,000. I don’t specifically remember turning it down,” she shared. “The script was okay, but I gotta say, Julia Roberts is what makes that movie. It was her part. Every actor hopes for a part that lets them shine like that.”

‘Pretty Woman’ ended up being a massive success for Roberts. Her role earned the actress a nomination for Best Actress at the Academy Awards and won her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a motion picture at the time.