Richard Gere

Richard Gere never wanted to be an actor. At the University of Massachusetts, he studied philosophy on a gymnastics scholarship, but left school after two years to try his luck on stages in Vermont. He ended up in London starring in the stage version of Grease in 1973. That was the prelude to a decade in which his physique dictated the terms of his contracts.

And the gamble paid off.

In 1980, Paul Schrader dressed him in a Giorgio Armani suit for American Gigolo. Gere accepted the role after John Travolta turned it down out of fear of the script's sexual charge. That film changed the look of '80s cinema and pigeonholed him in a label he would take years to escape. In 1982, he filmed An Officer and a Gentleman, even though he hated the original script because it seemed too sentimental.

He constantly clashed with director Taylor Hackford during filming. Despite the tension on set, the film earned 130 million dollars in the United States alone. Gere was no longer an experimental stage actor but a profitable asset for the major studios in Los Angeles.

The Price of Politics in Hollywood

At the 1993 Oscars, Richard Gere went off script. He came out to present an award and used the microphone to denounce the human rights situation in Tibet. Hollywood does not forgive anyone who disrupts the rhythm of its biggest party. That speech cost him a ban from the Academy for years and strained his relationships with studios seeking access to the Chinese market.

But his career didn't stop because of politics. In 1990, he starred in Pretty Woman alongside Julia Roberts. J.F. Lawton's original screenplay was a dark drama about prostitution and drugs in Los Angeles titled 3000. Disney bought the rights and turned it into the romantic comedy everyone knows.

Gere improvised the piano scene.

The chemistry with Roberts was so strong that they repeated the formula in 1999 with Runaway Bride. Still, Gere preferred complicated characters. In 1996, he filmed Primal Fear, playing an arrogant lawyer outmatched by his own client. The film helped audiences see something more than a pretty face on screen.

The Maturity Behind the Low Profile

The turn of the century brought the recognition critics had denied him for decades. In 2002, he won the Golden Globe for Chicago, playing the lawyer Billy Flynn. It was one of the few times he got to showcase his musical training on the big screen. He then began looking for independent projects where the dramatic weight was real and didn't depend on mass box office appeal.

In 2012, he led the cast of Arbitrage. His performance as Robert Miller brought him back to the front line of international film festivals. He no longer needed to be the leading man. In 2016, he filmed Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer under the direction of Joseph Cedar. It's one of his most restrained and controlled performances.

Paul Schrader called him back decades later.

In 2024, Oh, Canada premiered together at the Cannes Film Festival. The film explores the life of a documentary filmmaker who fled to Canada during the Vietnam War to avoid the draft. Gere plays the lead in his final stage, facing illness and the secrets of his past. The film's budget was estimated at around 10 million dollars.

In 2024, he filmed the series The Agency for Paramount+. It is a espionage thriller in which he plays a CIA station chief. Filming took place mainly in London, and the project marks his return to television after the miniseries MotherFatherSon in 2019. The production of The Agency featured George Clooney as executive producer.