Richard Gere: ‘I’m a dreamer, much to the annoyance of my friends’
You can’t take classes for how to be when you become famous. After American Gigolo my life changed and it was both wonderful and difficult. I was young and suddenly people knew who I was. I just wanted to work. I don’t think of myself as “rich and famous”. I’m just not interested in it.
My mother and father were married for over 70 years. It’s the sort of marriage I always aspired to having myself [Gere has been married to model Cindy Crawford and actor Carey Lowell], but haven’t yet managed.
Every breath opens up a new possibility. I love getting older. My dad is still alive at 95. His mind is very clear and, physically, he’s a little slower but he’s still moving. I aspire to that sort of longevity. Clearly I’m not as physically flexible or strong as I was when I was a kid, but I think I am mentally flexible.
Julia [Roberts] and I will always be connected. Making Pretty Woman was an experience we’ll never forget and that was really all down to Garry [Marshall], the director – the film was his heart, his soul and his sentiment. We lost him last year and, when I look back now, I think all of the cast were somehow channelling a part of him when we were making the film.
It’s quite the time to be a woman in this world. I think if we’re to see radical change in the years to come it will be because of the current women’s movement. Women are able to see the long-term and are all-embracing, while I think men only see what’s directly in front of them.
I meditate every single day. The continuity of daily practice is something I both want and need. It’s a practice of patience and a commitment to looking at your mind. Most of us aren’t encouraged to do that – we just have a superficial engagement with the world.
For all the technological advances we have now, I still think things were better 30 years ago. We’re working too hard and not taking time out to consider what it really means to be human. We’re not taking advantage of having the technology to make our lives easier.
I have a tendency to wander off and do my own thing. I’m a bit of a dreamer, much to the annoyance of my friends. Anything that takes me away from taking myself too seriously – that stops the hardness and coldness which would otherwise make me feel separate to the rest of the universe – can only be a good thing.
Men are taught not to be too emotional and I don’t think that’s right. I don’t find it difficult to cry. The last time I did was two days ago, just thinking about how kind people can be. As I’ve got older my temper has become softer and softer. My anger doesn’t linger any more. It kind of just burns itself out. It’s not a bad thing to really feel things instead of bury them.
Norman is in cinemas from 9 June
