In “Pretty Woman,” Julia Roberts plays Vivian Ward.
Vivian is a young woman living and working in Hollywood who is hired by wealthy businessman Edward Lewis, played by Richard Gere, to accompany him during a business trip. Their arrangement gradually develops into a romance, forming the film’s central transformation story.
The character’s name is Vivian Ward, while Kit De Luca is the name of her friend and roommate, played by Laura San Giacomo. “Pretty Woman” is the film’s title, not the name of Roberts’s character, and Julia Roberts is the performer rather than the fictional role.
Released in 1990, the movie was directed by Garry Marshall and became one of the most commercially successful romantic comedies of its era. It also made Roberts a major Hollywood star and earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. The film’s title comes from Roy Orbison’s 1964 song “Oh, Pretty Woman,” which became closely associated with the movie.