Richard Gere
Richard Gere
Richard Tiffany Gereis an American actor and humanitarian activist. He began acting in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar and a starring role in Days of Heaven. He came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol. He went on to star in several hit films, including An Officer and a Gentleman, Pretty Woman, Primal Fear, Runaway Bride, Arbitrage and...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth31 August 1949
CityPhiladelphia, PA
CountryUnited States of America
Even in comedies, you've got to feel safe for things to just happen in a way that is natural and free, and recognizable as human.
In saving Tibet, you save the possibility that we are all brothers, sisters.
I'd bought a lot of really challenging, cutting-edge Joel-Peter Witkin photographs very early on. There were severed heads and amputated feet and hands in them - gruesome stuff. I had them all around the house, and if someone couldn't relate to it in some artistic way and instead just said "Yuck," then there probably wouldn't have been anywhere for us to go.
I have no sense of time, and I'm a dreamer.
His Holiness [the Dalai Lama] has told me, urgently and repeatedly, that he thinks my photographs are crap. His exact words were, 'These photos are of poor quality. Why is there no sharp focus? There is no clarity!' I said, 'But your Holiness, it's Goyaesque.' And he said, 'No! It's out of focus!'
The idea of fixing of healing is an important part of any genuine spiritual approach. Kabbalah is very much about this idea of fixing of things that have been damaged. From a Buddhist point of view, things have been damaged because ignorance has intoxicated the mind.
I cry every chance I get.
I know who I am. No one else knows who I am. If I was a giraffe, and someone said I was a snake, I'd think, no, actually I'm a giraffe.
When I am there [Tibet], I am very happy. The Tibetans radiate. They literally send out light. His holiness [the Dalai Lama] generates love and compassion to every human being. He has committed himself to that. I haven't made that leap yet. I haven't given up self-aspiration. I still love making movies.
Western Buddhists in many ways are much serious Buddhists than Tibetans are.
When someone has a strong intuitive connection, Buddhism suggests that it's because of karma, some past connection.
When His Holiness won the Nobel Peace Prize, there was a quantum leap. He is not seen as solely a Tibetan anymore; he belongs to the world.
From a Buddhist point of view, emotions are not real. As an actor, I manufacture emotions. They're a sense of play. But real life is the same. We're just not aware of it.
I would rather be loved than have money and all that other stuff.