Richard Gere returns to television with British drama

Hollywood actor Richard Gere is making a return to TV after nearly 30 years with MotherFatherSon, a new show on British television. He will play an American media mogul, alongside Peaky Blinders star Helen McCrory and On Chesil Beach star Billy Howle, reports bbc.com.

Gere said that he was “so pleased” to make his small screen comeback in the series, written by Tom Rob Smith, whose TV credits include the recent hit The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.

MotherFatherSon tells the story of businessman Max (Gere), his heiress ex-wife Kathryn (McCrory) and their son Caden (Howle). “The family empire is threatened when Caden, who runs Max’s British newspaper, spirals out of control — with consequences for the future of the family, its empire, and a country on the brink of change,” said a spokesman.

The series will consist of eight hour-long episodes.

Gere said, “I’m so pleased to be working now with the [studio] on this extraordinary eight-hour project, with such talented people and which resonates so much to the time we live in.”

Smith said, “Telling this story was always going to depend upon gathering an extraordinary cast.”

He described Gere’s role as “iconic and complex”, while saying McCrory showed “heartbreaking emotional tenderness and immense power”, with Howle “one of the most exciting young actors” he had ever seen.

Filming is starting in the UK and Spain this summer.

Gere had done some TV work in the initial years of his career, including a 1976 role on the cult show Kojak (1973-78), which was fronted by actor Telly Savalas.