Barbara Marshall, wife of filmmaker Garry Marshall, reportedly said that actor Julia Roberts hung out with prostitutes for her film, Pretty Woman.
Barbara, a former nurse, was volunteering at a Los Angeles free clinic in 1989 when Garry cast Roberts to play a streetwalker, who gets a corporate raider to fall in love with her.
“Garry would never visit me at the clinic, because he was a hypochondriac and afraid of getting a disease. But he asked if Julia could come and talk to some of the patients. So I recruited two young women who came to the clinic regularly, and I paid them $35 each to meet her,” Barbara reportedly said, in an interview with a media organisation.
She further added, “I went back to work, and about 20 minutes later, Julia yelled from the end of the hall, ‘Bye, Barbara. We’re going to take a drive. We’ll be back later.’”
Narrating the story, Barbara said that she got panicky and called Garry and said, “Your star just left with a group of girls, and I think they were heading to Hollywood Boulevard. I’m worried. What if she doesn’t come back?” She also said that Julia is ‘one tough lady who can take care of herself on and off camera’.
Julia was last seen in the 2018 film, Ben is Black.