Gere gears up with BBC for first UK TV role
RICHARD GERE is in final negotiations to play a business titan in what will be his first drama for BBC television.
The Hollywood star is expected to play Max, the daddy in Mother Father Son, an eight-part thriller by Tom Rob Smith.
Smith is the bestselling novelist who wrote British-American TV hit drama London Spy, which was aired back in 2015 and featured Ben Whishaw, Jim Broadbent and Edward Holcroft.
The character earmarked for Gere is that of a ruthless media tycoon: he has the ear of the British Prime Minister, is keeper of powerful people’s secrets and doesn’t care about trampling over those who get in his way.
Max is divorced from blueblood Kathryn, the mother of their 30year-old, living-dangerously son, Caden. That role is on offer to the fast-rising Billy Howle, who was in the Witness For The Prosecution mini-series and Dunkirk and will appear in director Dominic Cooke’s film version of Ian McEwan’s On Chesil Beach.
‘Kathryn Max Caden’ comprise the Mother Father Son triangle.
Gere hasn’t signed a contract yet, but executives at the Corporation must be praying he does because the scripts have been rewritten to reflect the star’s physical attributes: his distinctive silver hair and deep tan. Gere’s people, meanwhile, believe the drama could recharge the 68-year-old’s career at a time when a lot of big-name actors have been transitioning to TV. From the late Seventies to the early Nineties, Gere was one of Hollywood’s dominant leading men, thanks to some memorable roles in films such as Yanks, American Gigolo, An Officer And A Gentleman and Pretty Woman (though there were some duds, too). Later, he was also a hit in Chicago, which showcased his trademark cocky swagger. The role of Mother has yet to be cast, but is expected to be confirmed imminently. Filming is due to start soon on locations across the trendiest parts of London.
Billy Howle has done good work on screen and stage, including Richard Eyre’s production of Long Day’s Journey Into Night at the Bristol Old Vic.
But the gripping story arc for Caden that has been outlined to me is explosive. And if Howle can pull it off, it will make him a star.
The series will be shown on BBC2 towards the end of the year.