Becoming ‘Norman’
In new film, Richard Gere steps into the role of an aspirational businessman
If you’re a Richard Gere fan, you’re in luck. The Philadelphia native has been on a roll lately, acing leading roles in three upcoming features, including “The Dinner,” which is due in early May, “Three Christs,” which drops in December, and “Norman,” now in select theaters — check with your local theater.
“I’m really happy with all three of these films,” says the actor, 67. ”For some reason I keep finding things that I want to do, and we do them.”
Of the three features, Gere takes the biggest risks in “Norman,” a dramedy about a small-time operator named Norman Oppenheimer who befriends a young politician (Michael Sheen) when the lawmaker is at a low point in his life.
Three years later, when Sheen becomes an influential powerhouse, Norman’s life dramatically changes for the better — and worse — as he uses his influence to close a number of lucrative deals.
Gere has a made a career out of playing suave charmers who get what they want with a smile and a wink of the eye. Think “Pretty Women,” “Chicago,” “Doctor T and The Women,” “Primal Fear,” “Power” and “American Gigolo.”
But Norman is the ultimate wanna-be whose lack of sophistication sticks out like a sore thumb.
“[Trying something new] was one of the challenges and fears of this movie,” says Gere.
“In the initial discussions with [director] Joseph Cedar, my first question was along those lines, ‘Why me? Why would you want me to create this guy?’
“I also knew that if you do this, you’ve got to go way out there. You can’t do it halfway. You’ve got to completely give yourself to it. Norman is such a fresh and original character that you can’t rely on any clichés.
“You can’t look at other performances and emulate them. You’ve really got to give yourself to a completely fresh and new invention.”
Gere has been a fan of Cedar’s since discovering the filmmaker’s Israeli drama “Footnote.” Together, the actor and director spent hours discussing the finer points of creating this tricky character.
“We had enough time, eight or nine months, to talk about this and how to work through it,” notes Gere. “So, by the time we began shooting, I felt confident and willing to jump off the cliff with [Cedar].”
Perpetually clad in a rumpled newsboy hat and coat, Norman always looks like he just rolled out of bed and onto the streets.
“That physicality just kind of came to us,” says Gere. “It wasn’t something that I thought about. It just kind of showed up. I think it was part of this thing that he carries a shell with him. His whole house is on his back.”
But even though Norman is continually given the cold shoulder by the movers and shakers, he never gives up trying to insert himself into the lives of the power elite.
“I wondered how does Norman process the betrayals? How does he process the humiliations? [When that happens to me in real life] I get angry. That’s the normal human response to being humiliated or betrayed or rejected. The hurt turns into anger very quickly.
“But with Norman, the hurt moment is very short and brief. He’s able to rebound and restore himself extremely quickly. You’d have to go back and look frame by frame at the movie to see how quickly he restores himself after something [bad] happens to him, something that would probably devastate the rest of us.”
Norman is also content to be on the sidelines, which is contrast to just about every other character that Gere has played.
“He just needs to belong,” says the actor. “He would be uncomfortable if he was the alpha in the room and had that kind of pressure on him. He just wants to be in the room.
“The scene where [one of his political friends] becomes prime minister and he’s in a sea of people applauding: that’s all he wants. To be the campaign manager is enough. He doesn’t need to be the candidate.”
A movie star since the 1970s, Gere has enjoyed hits in every decade since his starring film debuts in “Looking For Mr. Goodbar” and Terrence Malick’s “Days of Heaven.”
Gere says he owes his movie career, at least in part, to Malick.
“I remember I was very happy because I was doing off off-Broadway stuff and American Palace Theater stuff and theater on Broadway and the West End: that was my work,” says Gere. “I think I was a little haughty about it too. ‘I’m a theater guy.’ But then I saw [Malick’s] ‘Badlands.’
“I remember going to my agent and saying, ‘I’d make a movie with that guy.’ And literally weeks later, the call came in. ‘Malick would like to see you for his next movie.’
“Well, we went through a whole drama over months and months about casting and how to find the three actors to star in that movie.
“But I got the call. I was at the Chateau Marmont [in Los Angeles] and Terry called and said, ‘Richard, I really want you to do this movie. Let’s just do it. Let’s make a movie.’ It was one of those moments where you know your life is going to radically change.”
And change it did. While Gere went back to the stage to star in a critically acclaimed production of “Bent,” he’s primarily been a movie actor ever since.
Through the years, the one constant in Gere’s life has been his belief in Buddhism. The actor says his religion informs every aspect of his life, particularly his career.
“I’m not doing [movies] just out of narcissism,” notes Gere who’s raising a 17-year-old son with his ex-wife, actress Carey Lowell.
“All of us collectively are doing movies because we have an idea and it might be useful in some way to other people, to the planet.
“We also have gone through the process of making this film, where we have trusted each other, and we’ve had human interaction, and this is something that has taken us as people, as well as performers, to another place.
“So, yes, all these things are from a Buddhist point of view. Am I separate from you or not? That’s what the genius of the Buddha is. He said, ‘There is no definitive self.’ Everything is a moving target.”