Shifting Up A Gere
(by Chris Betros | Japan Today | December 8, 2002)
Richard Gere figures he must be getting old. During a recent visit to Japan, he says Japanese called him "Gere-sama" for the first time in his nine visits.
Certainly, with his white hair and dreamy look, the 53-year-old star of "The Mothman Prophecies" and "Unfaithful" is no longer the brash young man who got his start as a punk in an episode of the TV series "Kojak" in the 1970s before moving on to find fame in movies such as "Looking for Mr Goodbar" (1977), "Days of Heaven" (1978), "American Gigolo" (1980) and "An Officer and a Gentleman" (1982).
"I guess I was cooler 20 years ago," he reflected. "When you get older, your idea of cool changes. I don't even have a leather jacket now. The coolest thing you can do is be yourself and stand up straight." Over the years, Gere has proven himself capable of playing everything from villains to knights to corrupt cops. "You don't become a character. That's a misconception about acting. You find the parts that are congruent to you. You plant seeds and let the character grow. But you do keep the best of what you are," he said.
In "Unfaithful," directed by Adrian Lynne, Gere plays a well-off Long Island family man who seems to have a happy marriage. But after he learns his wife (Diane Lane) is having a torrid affair with a French book dealer in New York, things start to unravel.
"These characters are recognizable in every society," he said. "On the surface, they seem normal, but what is normal? If you scratch the surface of anyone, you'll find that no one is normal. For most of us, 'normal' means following the rules. We think there is an agreement with the universe that if we play by the rules, we will be happy."
Gere, who has been married twice, says he can sympathize with people who stray from marriages. "Sometimes, it's hard to spend time together, especially if you have kids. That's the reality of marriage. When my wife and I try to get close, the kids fall out of bed or something else happens," he said. "On the other hand, while the film takes a hard look at the question of fidelity, I don't think we should make value judgements of others. What I would say is that we have to be responsible for whatever we do. Is it worth it to do something our body says yes to? If we are aware of the ramifications of such actions, we may become a little wiser in our choices."
Buddhist Influence: Listening to Gere speak makes you wonder if his Buddhist beliefs (he became a disciple of the Dalai Lama in the late 1970s) shape his views and choices. Not necessarily so, he says. "My choice of roles are much more instinctive; it's like falling in love. But nor is Buddhism separate. It is part of everything in life — religion, work, philosophy."
Gere's career is often thought of as being in two parts — his pre-Buddhist days and afterwards. Born in Philadelphia and raised a Methodist, he was a gymnast and trumpeter at school. After dropping out of university, he worked for a while as a trumpet player with country, blues, bluegrass and rock bands. Then he started acting on Broadway and eventually secured the lead in the London version of the musical "Grease." In the mid-'80s, his acting took a back seat to his political and spiritual activities. Besides the Tibetan cause, he has thrown his lot behind AIDS awareness and the plight of Central American refugees on whose behalf he lobbied Congress. His outspoken views have often landed in hot water with the Hollywood establishment (he used the occasion of being a presenter at the 1992 Academy Awards to make a plea for Tibet).
Asked about whether the US should bomb Iraq, Gere thought for awhile. "An Iraqi life is just as valuable as an American life. A lot depends on your point of view. From Iraq's point of view, are they villains? Of course not. But the amount of innocent people that would be killed in such violence is not acceptable," he said.
"I would hope that the US administration will give us proof that there is something going on that can't be stopped in any other way. The hardest thing for us as Americans is to deal with the question that we are vulnerable for the first time ... maybe the second time. Pearl Harbor was the first. But people in other countries have felt it for decades or centuries."
Whatever happens, Gere will no doubt be speaking out. "I just won't go away. They want me to sometimes," he said with a grin. More than once, he has been written off as an actor, but he has always bounced back with movies such as "Pretty Woman" (1990), "First Knight" (1995), "Primal Fear" (1996) and "Runaway Bride" (1996). Next, he'll be seen in the gangster musical "Chicago" with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renee Zellweger. "I'm not very systematic in my choices. Maybe that's one reason why I'm still here," he shrugged.
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