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The movie that sent Richard Gere into Hollywood exile
Once upon a time, Richard Gere was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, but that hasn't been the case for a while after he fell victim to industry politics.
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(Credits: Far Out / Alamy)
Film » Cutting Room Floor
Sat 15 February 2025 1:00, UK
Maintaining stardom is one of the most difficult things to achieve in Hollywood, with the industry in a perpetual state of evolution that often reduces the next big thing to yesterdayâs news in an instant. Richard Gere enjoyed his time in the sun, but itâs been a long time since he was sniffing around the A-list.
From the early 1980s through to the turn of the 1990s, he was one of the most popular leading men and desirable heartthrobs in the business. Movies like American Gigolo, An Officer and a Gentleman, Internal Affairs, and Pretty Woman turned tidy profits at the box office and won plenty of acclaim from critics and audiences alike.
Despite being named the âSexiest Man Aliveâ in 1999, the turn of the millennium coincided with a downturn in fortunes. There was the occasional hit along the way, such as his Golden Globe-winning performance in Rob Marshallâs âBest Pictureâ-winning Chicago and another award-nominated turn in the underseen Arbitrage, but Gere gradually slid down the pecking order.
To underline just how drastically he was pushed out of the limelight, Gere hasnât made a film that was financed entirely by a major studio since 2008âs romantic drama Nights in Rodanthe, which promptly bombed in cinemas. He never went away, but itâs true that his profile is nowhere near what it used to be.
In between those two points, though, there was a defining moment that can accept a fair share of the blame for halting his mainstream exploits in their tracks. The actorâs political beliefs are well known, and in the â90s, heâd signed on for an independent drama that was scrapped two weeks before shooting was due to start after the intended director, a Chinese national, said âhis family would never have been allowed to leave the country ever againâ if the production went ahead.
Several years later, Gere headlined Jon Avnetâs mystery thriller Red Corner, in which he starred as an American businessman accused of murder on a trip to China. The film was supposed to be shot in a location in the country, but the studio ultimately decided against it, which was the first alarm bell to start ringing.
âEveryone was happy with the film,â he told The Hollywood Reporter. âI get calls from the heads of the studio. Went on Oprah. Then, out of nowhere, I get calls saying, âWe donât want you doing pressâ. MGM wanted to make an overall deal with the Chinese. China told them, âIf you release this film, weâre not buying itâ. And so, they dumped it.â
Given Gereâs pro-Tibet stance, the movieâs depiction of the Chinese legal system, and Hollywoodâs desire to make inroads into the burgeoning market, defending Red Corner made him a few enemies. The government even issued a memo banning any of its production companies from working with any American entity involved in Aventâs potboiler, with Gere naming the picture in front of the United States Senate when testifying that âeconomic interests compel studios to avoid social and political issues Hollywood once addressed.â
It didnât exactly sign the death warrant on his career, but it canât be a coincidence that in the years that followed Red Cornerâs release, his high-profile leading roles became fewer and further between than they had for decades.
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