However, the difference for him wasn't just the acting bug but what he calls the need to know more: 'I was always tilting toward making sense of things. I can remember as a kid looking up at the stars and feeling more of an affinity with them than with this planet. ‘It sounds crazy, but I think kids probably are more in touch with those universal feelings and connections. As I became older I became aware of suffering: my own, other people's, other creatures', he planet itself, and I wanted to know why. I studied philosophy in school, went into libraries and bookstores and read, studied Zen until I was in my early 30s. That was when I met the Dalai Lama and felt a real strong connection with their form of Buddhism. It was a real heart connection. Buddhism is a survival mechanism but necessarily for balancing the business. It's not an issue. It's not to do with acting -- that's my job. Buddhism is much larger than that. ‘To be blatant about it I went to Buddhism because of the suffering I was feeling. And the suffering was not about my job; it was about the nature of the universe, of myself, my heart and mind, and the suffering I saw all around me.' He says he understands many of the characters he has gravitated towards -- those with a love/hate relationship with authority which usually results in rebellious and coercive behaviour -- because that is how he sees the fundamental human condition: ‘Most of us are pretty well trained dogs on almost all levels of our lives. We might go a little right or a little left but we all pretty much follow the rules of what's handed to us. I think we all chafe from that. That's why we dream incredible dreams. ‘I long for a time when our dreams are boring and our lives are interesting.' Many of his movie characters or surroundings are seriously warped but he finds no conflict with his spiritual beliefs. ‘It's hard for people to understand that acting is just a job. A really good job. It pays really well, gives you lots of opportunities, leisure time, time to think, which is really important. You're not worrying about coming up with a meal or a roof over your head and that's real luxury.I'm able to think about other issues. ‘Acting is not a deep, heavy, sacrificial, angst job. There is no dichotomy whatsoever between my philosophy and the characters I play. These things are ancillary. This is just a job believe it or not. ‘It's a job I like a lot but it's not my life. And it never occurs to me for a second that it's really important.' For the Hollywood moneymen it is very important. In a financially driven town where a real star is one whose films can make at least $10 million dollars in an opening weekend he is high Gere. His latest movie ‘Primal Fear' pushed all the right box office buttons in America. And it is all about Western values. Gere is lawyer Martin Vail -- created in William Diehl's bestselling book -- who is a blustering, camera and attention grabbing Chicago courtroom hot shot. And what could literally be more of a showcase than the plight of an altar boy accused of the brutal murder of the city's archbishop? A very secular lead character:
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