Richard Gere names the best movie of his career: “It made everyone a lot of money”
There’s no rule that states an actor’s most famous movies need to be at the top of their personal favourites list, and that’s definitely true of Richard Gere.
If 100 people were asked to name one of his films off the top of their head, then the chances are high that Pretty Woman would be the first that comes to mind. It’s without a doubt his most successful, in terms of both its box office earnings and cultural impact, but he doesn’t hold it in particularly high esteem.
In fact, Gere has been open in admitting the only reason he agreed to board Garry Marshall’s hit romantic comedy was that his career had been sliding downwards throughout the 1980s, and he was savvy enough to realise he needed a guaranteed winner before he was permanently consigned to irrelevancy.
An Officer and a Gentleman is up there, too, but it’s in a similar position. Gere and co-star Debra Winger famously didn’t see eye-to-eye during the production, and the leading man seriously contemplated turning down the lead role until director Taylor Hackford convinced him it would be in his best interests.
Since being effectively exiled from mainstream Hollywood in the late 1990s, Gere has predominantly stuck to smaller independent pictures. However, during his post-Pretty Woman resurgence, he made one movie that with the benefit of hindsight he’s happy to call his personal favourite.
“If I’m pressed to select one, Sommersby is the film I really like,” he told The Daily Eye. “I produced it myself and felt very strongly for the script about a farmer who returns home from the American Civil War, but his wife suspects that he’s an imposter. It did great business; it made everyone a lot of money.”
1993 marked the first time Gere broadened his horizons beyond acting to serve as an executive producer on Mike Figgis’ Mr Jones and Jon Amiel’s Sommersby, both of which were romantic dramas. The latter was also his highest-grossing and best-reviewed effort in years, recouping its budget almost five times over from cinemas.
“All of us, from Jodie Foster to everyone in the cast, had a great time while working on it,” he explained. “Sommersby moved the audience; they cried at the end. I love touching the audience. I think people see films or read books to be moved by them. If a film achieves that, I think it’s successful.”
It might not be Gere’s most famous feature, not that he cares. What can’t be argued is that it’s the one that lingers in the memory as the greatest experience he’s ever had collaborating with a cast and crew, and it’s not like he wasn’t already an expert in toplining star-crossed romances to place him squarely in his comfort zone before a single frame had been shot, with everything that came after an added bonus.
