Not every on-screen romance wins audiences over.
Richard Gere has found himself at the center of online scrutiny after photos from the set of his upcoming romantic drama surfaced, leaving many viewers fixated on one controversial detail.
The veteran Hollywood star was spotted filming alongside a much younger co-star in New York, and the images quickly sparked a wave of reactions across social media.
While the film is built around an unconventional love story, many fans aren’t convinced by what they’ve seen so far.
Here’s why the latest behind-the-scenes photos have everyone talking.
Richard Gere was spotted filming a new project with a young co-star
Image credits: GC Images/Getty Images
On July 14, Richard Gere caused a stir online after he was spotted filming a new movie in New York. While the 76-year-old actor is known for his romantic roles, fans weren’t expecting his newest role to feature such a drastic age gap.
In May, it was announced that Gere would be starring in an adaptation of Lisa Halliday’s critically acclaimed novel, Asymmetry.
Directed by Oscar winner Edward Zwick, the film explores an unconventional romance between a 70-year-old author and a young editorial assistant.
Image credits: GC Images/Getty Images
After first-look photos from the set surfaced online in early July, Gere was photographed cozying up with his much younger co-star Diana Silvers while filming scenes on New York’s Upper West Side.
The 28-year-old actress is best known for her role in the 2019 coming-of-age comedy Booksmart. She was photographed holding hands with Gere during one take, while other images showed the pair chatting between rehearsals.
Fans are appalled by the age-gap romance in Richard Gere’s new film
Image credits: GC Images/Getty Images
The upcoming film’s age-gap romance generated plenty of buzz on social media, drawing comparisons to Gere’s earlier work in the 1990 romantic comedy Pretty Woman, co-starring Julia Roberts.
At the time, Gere was 40 while Roberts was only 22. This time, however, many fans took issue with the nearly 40-year age difference between Gere and his latest co-star. Some observers also noted that the actress was nearly the same age as his son, Homer Gere, 26.
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On X, users reacted negatively to glimpses of Gere romancing Silvers, even though the scenes were faithful to the source material.
“It worked in Pretty Woman because even though he was older, he was an okay older guy, but now it’s just plain bizarre,” one person commented.
A second wrote, “ENOUGH. Enough with normalizing couples in movies with an absurd age difference.”
“It hasn’t even come out yet, and I’m already disgusted by this,” a third added.
Richard Gere is no stranger to age-gap romances on and off-screen
Image credits: Miikka Skaffari/Getty Images
Gere’s personal life has also featured several high-profile relationships with younger partners. The actor was previously married to Cindy Crawford, who was 17 years his junior.
Gere’s second marriage was to actress Carey Lowell, who is 12 years younger than him. He then married Spanish activist Alejandra Silva in 2018, drawing attention to their 34-year age difference.
In a 2024 interview with Hello, the couple opened up about their move to Spain and also addressed their three-decade age gap.
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“In this life, it had to be like this. He has promised me at least 20 good years!” Silva said.
Despite the sizeable age gap, Silva admitted she sometimes struggled to “keep up with him.”
The couple welcomed their first son in February 2019 and their second in April 2020. They now split their time between Spain and the United States.
Asymmetry currently has no confirmed release date.
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