Richard Gere

An accomplished pianist and music writer; in fact, he composed and performed the piano solo featured in Pretty Woman (1990).
Some of his earliest photos, known as "head shots" were taken by boyhood friend and struggling photographer Herb Ritts. The people handling Gere were so impressed with the photos that they began hiring Ritts for other assignments, and he is now a top photographer.
Turned down the role of Gordon Gekko in Wall Street (1987). Has since said that is the role he regrets passing on the most.
Became a father for the first time at age 50 when his girlfriend [later wife] Carey Lowell gave birth to their son Homer James Jigme Gere on February 6, 2000.
Agreed to a small role in the HBO film Guerra al virus (1993) despite the prevalent belief in the film industry it would be detrimental to his career. Subsequently, stars like Steve Martin, Alan Alda, Phil Collins and Anjelica Huston were willing to appear.

I don't want to be a personality.
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.
[on George W. Bush] We have a President right now who lies constantly and gets away with it, apparently.
[on agent Ed Limato]: He was the bridge between old-time Hollywood and Hollywood present. Ed was a master at orchestrating all of the feelings correctly. He had a rare ability to read a script and see what could be.
Pretty Woman (1990) is something I never would have done. Neither is Ufficiale e gentiluomo (1982). I had no interest in these scripts whatsoever. It was the same person knocking my door down on both of them, Jeffrey Katzenberg, first at Paramount, then at Disney, who was one of my first friends out here and still is. At the point of Pretty Woman (1990), I had been kind of out of things for a while. I consciously [had] just said, "Going off to do other things" and I fucked up my career to the point where [people weren't saying], "Well, let's get Gere to do that". I had to crawl a little bit to get scripts. Doing Affari sporchi (1990), for instance, was a very difficult decision for me to make because, potentially, that could have been such a piece of shit. It turns out to be one of my favorite movies and best experiences, too.