The Richard Gere movie that almost caused a global incident

On By Littum

Richard Gere - 2004

(Credits: Far Out / Alamy)

There was a moment in time when Richard Gere was untouchable. He was one of Hollywood’s most reliable leading men, an instant sign that whatever movie he was in was going to be steamy and good. For many, he remains the archetypal romantic actor, thanks to films like An officer and a gentleman, Ongoing Fraudand Beautiful woman.

However, in the mid-to-late 2000s, Gere’s career began to slow down. If you ask the man himself, it is because of his view of Tibet. He became a passionate defender of the region, which has long been at odds with China over its sovereignty, and a firm friend of its exiled leader, the Dalai Lama. With Chinese money everywhere in Hollywood, the actor believes that’s why his major studio work has dried up.

Gere himself is permanently banned from entering China, and even working with him could threaten a person’s relationship with the country. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporterthe American Gigolo star told a story about a film he was going to make with a Chinese director. “Two weeks before we were supposed to shoot, he called and said, ‘Sorry, I can’t do it,'” he said. “We had a secret phone call on a protected line. If I had worked with this director, he, his family would never have been allowed to leave the country again, and he would never have worked.”

Neither the director nor the film in question is named for obvious reasons, but incidents like this show just how interconnected the worlds of entertainment and politics really are. Gere’s first brush with pro-Chinese censorship came at the 1993 Oscars, where he presented the award for ‘Best Art Direction’. He went off script to call out the Chinese government for their human rights abuses in Tibet, and his career was never the same again. “There are definitely movies that I can’t be in because the Chinese will say, ‘Not with him,'” he revealed. “I recently had an episode where someone said they couldn’t finance a film with me because it would upset the Chinese.”

Rather fittingly for a noted Buddhist, Gere’s actions appear to have earned him some good karma. Ever since he was forced off the Hollywood scene, he has taken on more and more interesting roles and as a result has garnered some of the best reviews of his career. Take the 2016s Norman, for example, where he plays a fixer who becomes involved with the president of Israel, considered by many to be one of his strongest performances.

IN The Hollywood Reporter piece, Gere admitted that he actually enjoyed some elements of being on the blacklist. “I didn’t have to put on a tuxedo again. I was fine with that,” he said of his alleged Oscar ban after his speech in 1993. When it comes to the subject of big studio roles, he’s not too bothered about them either. “I’m not interested in playing the wizened Jedi in your tentpole,” he said firmly. “I was successful enough in the last three decades that I can afford to make these (smaller films) now.”

In 2024, Gere appeared in two films. One was Longinga remake of an Israeli film in which he starred opposite Diane Kruger and the other was Oh, Canadaa Paul Schrader film also starring Uma Thurman and Jacob Elordi.

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