At 40, Gere’s Career Is Rolling Again

Richard Gere is on a roll, and no one is more aware of it than he is.

The Gere career, at the moment, is doing better thanks to “Internal Affairs” and “Pretty Woman,” which looks like another moneymaker. Audience reaction has been very positive at preview screenings.

So how does Gere feel about this?

“Two in a row,” he said. “It’s a nightmare.”

All actors should have such nightmares.

“If ‘Pretty Woman’ works, it will be pretty amazing to have two on top of each other,” Gere said. “It will be like when I started. I did three films back to back. The third was ‘Yanks,’ which I did in England. And when I came back to the United States, I learned that ‘Looking for Mr. Goodbar’ and ‘Blood Brothers’ had both been released. All of a sudden, I was this famous person.

“It’s like that now, almost 10 years to the day, and it feels great to have two films, hopefully, that work for me. They will make it easier for me to do the more difficult films.”

He admits that in the past few years, he was not being offered the better roles. “I had no hits,” he said. “That had a lot to do with it. Hollywood is a corporation. It’s not a Ma and Pa Kettle corner store. I am delighted that I’ve done two commercial films.

“Of course, I work as hard on the one that doesn’t communicate as the one that does. I am usually just as satisfied with the good films as I am the bad.”

Gere is 40, and the brown hair is mixed with gray now. When asked if this was natural or cosmetic, he laughed. “This whole thing is a wig,” he said and laughed again. “Of course it’s me.”

A few years ago, Gere tried Broadway with “Bent.” He has not been back since, but that does not mean he is through with theater. “I could be seduced by a good play,” he said. “I like making films, but if it’s a terrific play, one I could fit into the schedule, I’m sure I would think about it.”

In “Pretty Woman,” Gere is a businessman. Julia Roberts is a prostitute he hires as a companion for a few days. The movie is like a remake of “Pygmalion,” and Gere is well aware of that.

“They called me from Touchstone and told me they had this script that was a cross between ‘My Fair Lady’ and ‘Wall Street,’ and (asked) would I be interested in doing it. I kept waiting for the musical numbers, but there were none,” he said.

He enjoyed working with Roberts, who has the more colorful role in the film. “I can’t imagine anyone else in the part,” Gere said. “We worked well together. It ended up being a joy.”