Finally hitting top Gere

Richard Gere: "Having a child has changed how I feel about myself"

10 April 2012

Richard Gere is a new man. He smiles a lot, he talks non-stop, he laughs aloud. He practically dances around his hotel suite, arms outstretched, to shake hands. How wonderful to meet. How marvellous to chat. And did I take tea with or without milk?

Since Gere has clearly eschewed Hollywood's obsession with face-lifts for the over-fifties and has even allowed his full head of hair to turn steel- grey, there is a fanciful temptation to wonder if he's managed a surgical first, all on his own: a complete and successful personality transplant.

I should explain. Gere, 53, has in the past been one of the most miserable, insular and self-obsessed actors it has been my misfortune to meet. Sometimes he's avoided talking at all. And when he did? It was a case of stand by for a monologue on the benefits of Buddhism. This man could bore for Beverly Hills.

Gere's charm offensive coincides with the new film he's in town to talk about. It is the lavish screen adaptation of hit show Chicago, and it's an absolute knockout. Gere, who puts in one of his best performances to date as sleek lawyer Billy Flynn, dances and sings with Catherine Zeta-Jones (Velma Kelly) and Renèe Zellweger as the show-stealing Roxie Hart, in the story of passion, crime and sex, set in the Chicago of 1929.

But when we meet, the casually attired Gere is much more eager to chat about his secret marriage in November to Carey Lowell, a 41-yearold former Bond girl. "She's changed my life," he says simply. "And marriage does have meaning, if you do it from your heart. It is a milestone for us both." They met seven years ago, after Gere's divorce from supermodel Cindy Crawford, and they have a two-year-old son, Homer.

But throughout it all, Gere has kept his counsel - until now. "It's time to tell the world that I am happier, more open and relaxed than I have ever been in my life," he announces. "I asked her to marry me three years ago, but we have only just got around to doing it.

"I could never figure out how to do it, what with my family, her family and all the moving around we do on our jobs. In the end, we took our kids [Lowell has a daughter by her first marriage], a couple of friends and just did it. We are adults who have been through marriage before and do not take it lightly. I felt married from the moment I met her, to tell the truth. But to take that extra step is the biggest stride imaginable. I have no problems with this one at all."

Gere's problems in the past have been legion. It prompted him, at one point, to take out an advert in The Times, with first wife Crawford, denying that their marriage was in trouble and bizarrely insisting that they were both heterosexual, despite rumours. A few months later, they announced their separation.

"I have made plenty of mistakes," he shrugs. "The key to life is to learn from them. I have been a little too introspective, but I think that stemmed from insecurity or shyness. I took a long time to grow up."

What was once awkwardness has transformed itself into grace and a gentle humour. "Having a child has also changed how I feel about myself, what I do with my time and what my heart thinks," he says. "I used to hear all these things, but did not realise how true they really are.

"If I was younger, I would still be trying to figure out who I was, where my career was going and whatever else came into my mind. At this point in my life, I have been able to figure out a few things. I am what I am now at my age and it is unlikely that I am going to change radically."

Gere became a major star through films such as American Gigolo (1980) and An Officer and a Gentleman in 1982. But he sank from sight in the mid-1980s, with a succession of boxoffice flops. Then came Pretty Woman with Julia Roberts in 1990 and he was suddenly resurrected. But despite Final Analysis (1992) and Sommersby (1993) his career started to tread water once more. The romantic comedy success Runaway Bride - again with Julia Roberts - two years ago briefly ignited his prospects, commercially, if not critically.

Even so, he was not rushing to take the part in Chicago, despite the fact that the hot ticket of Zeta-Jones and Zellweger had already been cast.

Instead, he showed the streak of bloody-mindedness for which he had become renowned. "I did not want to audition for the director, Rob Marshall," he says flatly. "They had put the actresses through hell, with one audition after another."

So there was a lot of jockeying around. Gere says: "The first lunch Rob and I had together, I could feel him wanting to bring up the subject of my singing. He wanted to test me. He said: 'Why not drop by the office and we'll find a key in which you can sing?'

"I said: 'You know, Rob, I am not going to do that.' He gave a smile and shook his head. What he was thinking, I have no idea. He took a leap of faith with me. I could have been hopeless for all they knew. But none of them seemed to realise that I had been in Grease 30 years ago."

He played Danny Zuko - the role John Travolta made his own in the film version of 1978 - in the London production. Gere had already established himself as a young stage actor of some note at Provincetown Playhouse, Seattle Repertory Theatre and on Broadway. It is clear that memories of London life in his early twenties are good ones.

"I rented a basement flat in Victoria, which had a meter for heating," he says. "I bought a big motorcycle from the Triumph factory in Chichester - I went along and paid cash. I was a young guy, with a wonderful part every night on stage, a brandnew motorbike, cash in my pocket and leathers. It was a great time."

But nothing reminded him more of the passing years than his fastaction tap-dancing in Chicago. The training shattered him.

"It was physical torture," he reports. "You'd think you would have pretty good control of your feet after all these years. But the nervous system does not adapt to what you are asking it to do. It turned out to be the hardest work-out of my life."

His life now, though, is clearly no longer dominated by work. He is to start a new untitled film by esoteric director Bille August next month in Los Angeles - Julianne Moore is the co-star - only on the basis that his wife and son can join him.

"I want to put my son to sleep and kiss my wife goodnight," he says. "That is more important to me now than travelling thousands of miles to be on a great film set. I have changed - and for the better."

Chicago goes nationwide on 17 January.

Chicago
Cert: 12A

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