THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 7, 1996 TAG: 9604060044
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines
ON THE WHOLE, Richard Gere would rather be talking about Buddha.
Moviegoers, though, are talking plenty about his new hit courtroom drama ``Primal Fear.''
It's one of those old-fashioned movies in which audiences are urged not to tell the ending, but in this case you can add the middle and most of the beginning to the no-can-tell talk. It's a surprise hit with critics and has moviegoers going back for a second look to see why they missed the clues the first time around.
Just to make sure he doesn't give anything away, Richard Gere had his bags packed for a month-long visit to India where he planned to undertake a Tibetan yoga practice.
``I go there, or to Mongolia, for about two months of each year,'' he said as he sat in the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles (a city, he said, ``that does nothing for me, as a place, even though I do have friends here.'')
Gere has never liked to do interviews, and his distaste has grown since the press relentlessly hounded him during his marriage, which ended last year, to supermodel Cindy Crawford. At one point, he took out a full-page newspaper ad to claim that he and his then-wife were not gay.
While he used to be bitter during interviews, he now is merely amused.
He is eager, though, to talk about his role in ``Primal Fear.'' He stars as Martin Vail, a showboat lawyer who has no apparent scruples and no ideals, other than to win.
``A lot of things are going on with this character,'' Gere said. ``It's one of the best parts I've had. This guy is outwardly arrogant. He takes the case because everyone thinks he can't win, but he thinks there's a chance he can win over a jury - and he goes about it, systematically.''
Vail defends a naive altar boy who is accused of murdering the archbishop in Chicago. The evidence against the boy is overwhelming: He was seen running from the room moments after the murder, with blood splattered on his clothes. In spite of the odds, the immaculately groomed lawyer goes at the defense with aggressiveness.
``To Martin Vail, the real truth is the truth he can make a jury believe,'' Gere explains. ``He thinks he's in charge of the facts.''
``But we can't talk very much about the movie,'' the 46-year-old, silver-haired actor said.
``Name the three most pivotal moments in your life,'' was the next request.
Gere pondered. ``The first would be when I got the phone call from Provincetown Playhouse asking me to join them for the theater season,'' he said. ``I was 19 years old and I had got out of Syracuse, my hometown, but up until then I didn't see much chance of becoming an actor. But I got a job after my very first audition.''
He never does get around to naming the second and third pivotal moments of his life. He began studying Zen Tibetan Buddhism 20 years ago and meditates 45 minutes every day. ``It's an art that must be practiced. The thing it has done for me, more than anything else, is to get rid of the ego,'' he said.
Casting directors haven't noticed this, since the majority of his roles have been as arrogant, self-centered young men.
``I'm more in control and focused now than ever before,'' he said. ``The idea is to get rid of negative emotions. Whatever traumas you've had in your life don't go away. One of the tragedies of growing older is that you realize this. As an actor, I can use it. When I was young, and had a crying scene to do, I'd cry all day. Now, I've learned to transfer feelings, not just play them. It's very helpful as an actor, but also as a person.''
``Smiles are the easiest thing to fake,'' he said. ``Most smiles, in real life, are faked. It has to do with expectation. On the other hand, people hide sadness. They don't want to admit it. The character of Vail in this film presented a very phony front. The idea is to let the audience know it was phony when Vail himself didn't know it.''
He admits that Scientology, followed by such stars as Tom Cruise and John Travolta, ``made an attempt on me, but it didn't take. I'm more interested in a spiritual search than I am in an organized religion. The only real reason for religion is to have something to organize our questions. Religion does that. But there should, really, be no difference between religion and spirituality.''
Careerwise, Gere needs a hit. He hasn't had a major commercial hit since 1990's ``Pretty Woman,'' which was the biggest moneymaker of that year. ``An Officer and a Gentleman'' and ``American Gigolo'' were before that. More recently, ``First Knight'' and ``Intersection'' were more style than substance.
He doesn't seem worried. He won't be in either of the two films about Buddhism currently planned, ``because there are no roles appropriate for me.''
After a month's stay in India, Gere will return to read more scripts. He still won't be talking about the plot twists of ``Primal Fear.'' ``I'm in denial about that,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
PARAMOUNT
In ``Primal Fear,'' Laura Linney and Richard Gere play former lovers
who oppose each other as lawyers in a murder case.
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