The actor assures that he has not starred in a film for more than a decade, because the big studios are afraid that the Asian giant will stop financing their projects
Richard Gere, promoting his latest film in Los Angeles. Bauer-Griffin GC Images)
The year was running 1993 when the well-known actor Richard Gere, in charge of presenting one of the awards at the Oscars, denounced Chinese occupation in Tibet. “It's horrendous, a horrendous human rights situation”, Gere criticized, skipping the usual script and raising harsh criticism among Hollywood elite. In one interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actor, of 67 years, explains how those criticisms of the Asian giant separated him from the industry mainstream of American cinema due to its growing interest in the Chinese market.
Gere says that there are numerous films in which he has not been able to participate because China, Hollywood's second commercial market after the United States, I would reject them. “Recently someone said they couldn't finance a film with me in it because it would upset the Chinese.”, stated. On another occasion, days before starting to shoot a movie with a Chinese director, He called him to tell him that he couldn't do it.. “If I worked with that director, "He and his family would never be able to leave their country again.", explained.
After rolling the thriller Red Corner in 1997, playing the role of an American businessman in China, Gere was praised for his great performance. He even participated in television programs and advertised the film before its release.. “Everyone was happy.”. and suddenly, without prior notice, They called me to leave it. The American production company MGM was closing a commercial agreement with the Chinese, and they told them that if the film was released there would be no agreement.”, Gere explained.. “So they threw it in the trash.”, he added.
In contrast to the recent harsh criticism of President Donald Trump at the Oscars, Gere's complaint remains an anecdote. But Susan Sarandon, star actress and connoisseur of Gere's history, explained the reason behind the rejection of the actor: “It doesn't matter if you openly criticize Trump, because Hollywood hates him. But what Richard did is brave., used the stage to draw attention to a problem that people (the Hollywood) "I had agreed to ignore".
For Gere, that in his veteran career before 1993 he already had time to earn money, His forced removal from the main Hollywood shot was not so disturbing. In recent years he has filmed numerous films, including several of the genre indie, in which it has been redesigned with roles other than the protagonist, more common in its early years. One of the most recent is Norman, in which he plays a New York businessman who finds himself at the center of a corruption scandal among New York Jews.
And the actor has not lost his quality either.. The New York Times stated about Norman that Gere “has never been better”. The magazine Rolling Stone He also praised the actor, of whom he says he has reinvented himself from his roles as a charismatic gentleman and protagonist to a sober and simpler character, but with the usual spirit.
