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Richard Gere is hoping to share the story of one of his closest friends for nearly half a century, His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Gere, 76, is the executive producer of Wisdom of Happiness, a feature-length film on the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, which is now screening in select theaters.
“It’s not really a documentary because it’s kind of a hybrid, which is one of the reasons I like it so much,” Gere explained on the Thursday, October 16 episode of Today. “I’m proud of it. It’s bringing together this man’s life. This is his 90th year. In July, we just celebrated the 90th year of this extraordinary life.”
The film, Gere explained, is about who the Dalai Lama is and where he came from. Though it covers his entire life, Gere emphasized the archival footage of the young Dalai Lama in the 1930s through his escape to India during the Tibetan uprising in 1959.
“The core of this is him teaching, and his perspective of why this world is so crazy that we’re in right now and how to get out of it,” he said.
Gere has been a practicing Buddhist since meeting the Dalai Lama 45 years ago. The Pretty Woman actor married Alejandra Silva in 2018 and she also converted to Buddhism. A source told Us Weekly exclusively in 2023 that their spirituality plays a key role in their relationship.
“Richard and Alejandra have a very intellectual and spiritual relationship. [They’re both Buddhists] and they’ve bonded over their shared sense of spirituality and strong belief in karma,” the source said.
The insider continued: “They’re very happy in their beautiful home and love their family time, but they also enjoy traveling and experiencing new culture together. They’re big on reading, exercising together and meditation. Richard says he and Alejandra just click in a way he’s never experienced with anyone else, and that’s not to put any of his exes down.”
With Wisdom of Happiness completed, Gere hopes it could serve as a kind of “medicine” that can change the world.
“At the end of an hour-and-a-half with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the atmosphere of the room radically changes,” he said of watching screenings in Europe. “I’ve seen the lights come up and people start to look at each other genuinely like brothers and sisters. This can change our world.”
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“The world has fallen off a cliff — everywhere,” he added. “People are living in a dissonant, crazy reality. So I think the film is actually functioning as medicine, as a corrective of, ‘OK, time out. Let’s look at who we are right now. How did we get here? How can we stop this?’”
Gere’s description fits with a clip from the film that Today shared, in which the Dalai Lama says, “If you have a more serious practice of compassion, that’s the ultimate source of peace of mind. So, according to my own experience, training of mind is the key factor for a happy life.”
Wisdom of Happiness is out now in select theaters.
English (US) ·