Richard Gere is an American actor and producer who rose to prominence for his role in the 1980 film American Gigolo. The film established him as a leading actor and a smoldering sex symbol. Gere went on to star in blockbuster films such as An Officer and a Gentleman, The Cotton Club, and Primal Fear.
Gere famously starred alongside Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman in 1990, and nine years later, the pair reunited for Runaway Bride. Richard’s portrayal of Billy Flynn in the 2002 musical Chicago earned him a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Richard Gere lives a secretive life with his third wife and their two children
Richard Gere married Spanish publicist Alejandra Silva in early April 2018. Gere couldn’t hide his joy as he spoke to Hola! shortly after the ceremony. “I’m the happiest man in the universe,” the actor gushed. “I’m married to a beautiful woman who is smart, sensitive, committed to helping people, who is fun, patient, who knows how to forgive, who is a great cook.”
Silva is 34 years younger than Richard, but the massive age difference isn’t a problem. “I’m not ignoring our age difference and what it means to be with a Hollywood star, but when there’s such a strong karmic energy, the problems disappear,” Silva said. She then joked that Richard promised her at least twenty good years. “He has more energy than me… He’s not human!”
In August 2018, the couple announced that they were expecting their first child. Silva attached the following caption alongside a since-deleted Instagram photo of the Dalai Lama blessing her belly: “Getting blessings for our precious to come… we couldn’t say it before telling HH Dalai Lama.”
The couple welcomed their first son, Alexander, in February 2019. In April 2020, the couple welcomed their second son at their New York state ranch. Silva and Gere are yet to reveal any details about their second bundle of joy. They prefer a secretive family life – they have refrained from sharing photos of their sons on social media.
Alejandra and Richard have children from previous relationships. Gere and his second ex-wife Carey Cowell agreed on shared custody of their son Homer Gere following their protracted mid-2010s divorce. Richard didn’t have children with his first ex-wife Cindy Crawford. Gere told The Guardian that parenting gave him a different perspective of life:
“The marginal stuff doesn’t affect you anymore when you weigh it against the real things in your life. All the clichés [about parenthood] are true.”
Richard’s Hollywood decline happened after he criticized China for human rights violations
At the 1993 Academy Awards, Richard stepped up to present the award for best art direction. Rather than adhering to the script, Gere protested China’s occupation of Tibet and the country’s ‘horrendous, horrendous human rights situation.’ The show’s producer, the late Gil Cates, was irate. Cates vowed to ban Richard from future Oscar broadcasts.
Unfazed, Richard carried on with his attacks against China, supporting causes against the country’s leadership and calling for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics. His efforts earned him a lifetime ban from China and a downgrade from a Hollywood A-lister to a sporadic Indie star.
“There are definitely movies that I can’t be in because the Chinese will say, ‘Not with him,’” Richard told The Hollywood Reporter. China has become such an important market for Hollywood that show writers can’t risk losing potential profits by including Richard in their films. China has also barred its directors from working with Richard.
“There was something I was going to do with a Chinese director, and two weeks before we were going to shoot, he called saying, ‘Sorry, I can’t do it,” Richard narrated. “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 ever again, and he would never work.”
The last full-fledged studio movie that Richard appeared in was 2008’s Nights in Rodanthe. Since then, he has appeared in a slate of small films, including Norman and The Dinner. Surprisingly, some of Richard’s best reviews came after his shift from blockbuster to Indie. He has proven that his exclusion hurts Hollywood more than it hurts him.
Richard earned plenty from his three-decade spell as a Hollywood A-lister; therefore, he can afford to appear in small-budget projects. “I was successful enough in the last three decades that I can afford to do these [smaller films] now,” Richard stated. Gere’s last on-screen appearance came in 2019’s MotherFatherSon, which was, incidentally, his first major television role.
In June 2021, Richard spoke out in support of Palestine following the country’s conflict with Israel
In June 2021, Richard Gere, an outspoken supporter of the Palestinian people, criticized Israel for its military action against Palestine. In early 2021, Palestine and Israel engaged in their bloodiest battle in several years following rising tensions between the two nations.
Gere’s June 2021 sentiments were publicized by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which is struggling to cater to the millions of refugees displaced by the conflict. “I have a special place in my heart for Palestinians and what you are going through right now is unimaginable,” Richard stated.
In March 2017, Richard visited occupied Hebron and compared the situation to the Jim Crow South. He equated the segregation against Palestinians to Black segregation in the Jim Crow era. Richard told an Israeli TV station:
“It’s exactly what the Old South was in America. Blacks knew where they could go: they could drink from that fountain, they couldn’t go over there, they couldn’t eat in that place.”