by Possessing the suave and cool charisma expected of a true master of the silver screen, Richard Gere has been sliding through scenes with the smooth sensuality of an actor who knows his strengths. Since the 1970s, Gere has been top of the pile when it comes to leading men in movies, and he established himself in the big time with 1980s American Gigolo.
It would be hard to argue that Gere does not possess a sex appeal, though his versatility to adapt to different kinds of roles, whether in movies such as Primal Fear, Runaway Bride or I’m Not There, has left an eternal mark on the Hollywood film industry, a mark that had laid true since it was first placed.
One of the most notorious of Gere’s performances came in 1990 with Pretty Woman, the Garry Marshall-directed romantic comedy starring Julia Roberts and Jason Alexander. Gere plays a wealthy businessman who hires a Hollywood prostitute (played by Roberts) as an escort to several business and social meetings, although they develop a romantic connection with one another during their week-long encounter.
The film was well-received. It has since taken place over the decades as one of the archetypal rom-coms, arguably helping to define the genre as a powerhouse at the box office and, therefore, propelling it into the mainstream for decades to come. However, one person who does not hold the widely-beloved romantic comedy close to his heart is Gere himself, who once told Woman’s Day: “It is my least favourite thing”.
The movie is the biggest box office success in Gere’s career and is undoubtedly one of the movies that helped to cement him a fruitful career. Pretty Woman might not be the most serious work any of the actors involved ever made, but it has a place in history, and for that, one might think Gere would hold a little more respect for it. We might think that there’s a sense of hyperbole within Gere to say that he hates Pretty Woman most of all, but there also seems to be reasoning behind his disdain.
Gere admitted that he’s largely forgotten his experience with the 1990 rom-com, but can’t help but escape from being asked about it at length. “People ask me about that movie, but I’ve forgotten it,” the actor said. “That was a silly romantic comedy. Arbitrage [promoting at the time] is a much more serious movie that has some real cause and effect.”
The real reason it is so continually asked about is that the movie has endured a transformation over the years. For years, it was considered a love story for a modern age, gilded with erotica and only slightly blemished by the power dynamics at play between a sex worker and a customer. But those feelings have swung dramatically in more recent times. Continuing to explain the problematic nature of Pretty Woman, Gere noted, “It made those guys seem dashing, which was so wrong. Thankfully, today, we are all more sceptical of those guys.”
Gere is no stranger to controversy himself, especially when it comes to women, having been embroiled in a highly-publicised unwanted kissing saga with Shilpa Shetty. Perhaps there’s a sense of latent remorse in the actor for being partially responsible for glorifying the kind of greasy, sleazy character that he plays in Pretty Woman.
However, it still feels a little strange that Gere could profess to have forgotten the movie. It’s understandable he might resent it, or even wish he had never been a part of the cast, but to suggest that it is a forgettable moment in his career is laughable. The picture is beloved that there is a good chance that nobody will let him forget for the rest of his days.
