5 MINUTES WITH...
Hollywood heart-throb and superstar Richard Gere tells us all about his first major TV role – media mogul Max, who has more than a few family problems…
What can you tell us about your character, Max?
At the surface you think you know this guy, because we know figures like him from real life. Men like Ted Turner, Rupert Murdoch, Richard Branson. Guys who have achieved so much in life and you have a sense that they have a golden touch, and are involved with all kinds of businesses linked with power, politics and media. But Max is not based on any of them – he’s someone new, a work of fiction.
Would you say he’s a good guy or a bad guy?
Like all of us, he is a mix. I was still trying to figure out as I was playing him just how dark he could go. Certainly Max does questionable things – mischievous things – but I certainly don’t see him as an evil villain character.
Where do we find Max at the beginning of the series?
The series begins with Max flying into London after some time away. The first episode is about meeting the people in his life and returning to his Uk-based newspaper, which Max’s son Caden – played by Billy Howle - is running now.
What’s Max’s relationship like with his ex-wife Kathryn [played by Helen Mccrory]?
Well they’re divorced, and you know they still have some kind of a relationship, but you see that it’s always going to be prickly. There certainly is still love and concern there, mixed with regret, pain and suffering. But they do their best to be civil, certainly around Caden and the issue of his wellbeing after what happens to him at the end of episode one.
Why should people watch Motherfatherson?
I can only speak for myself, but it’s rare to see this kind of depth and presentation of – not just characters – but human dilemmas, emotions and thoughts, and confusion, and people trying to do the right thing, trying to do well and tripping over themselves and everyone they care about. This is the world we live in, because most families are dysfunctional to some degree, and this one certainly is.