Richard Gere Talks About His New Movie ‘Three Christs’ And Its Focus On Mental Health

Richard Gere’s latest role is in the film Three Christs, where he takes on the role of a psychiatrist named Dr. Alan Stone. The character is based on real-life social psychologist Milton Rokeach. The film itself is actually based on the psychologist’s book The Three Christs of Ypsilanti. The psychiatrist talks about treating three paranoid schizophrenics in the 1950s who thought they were Jesus Christ.

Gere says at the Three Christs premiere in NYC that the movie is really about creating safe spaces for people dealing with mental health issues. “We’ve all had friends who have had serious problems,” he says. “[Mental health] is part of our lives. The movie to me is really about how do you create community? How can you create a safe place even when you’re in a mental hospital when you’re deeply ill?”

Richard Gere talks about ‘Three Christs’ and its focus on mental illness

“How can you create a space that you can trust other people?” Gere adds. He also talks fondly of his co-stars. Peter Dinklage, Walter Goggins, and Bradley Whitford played the three patients in the film.

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“All the actors are terrific,” he says. “When things get the most tense, a good actor can find the other side of it and can bring more information, more insight but skirting around and coming in another wormhole.”

Other co-stars in the film also weigh heavily on the mental health aspect of the film

Julianna Margulies plays the wife of Dr. Stone in the film. She reveals that it wasn’t difficult at all to find that on-screen chemistry with Gere. “All my girlfriends say, ‘You always get the good guys!’ It was so easy. Also, we shot it on my college campus. I went to Sarah Lawrence so to be there and walk by the theater department where I was an acting student and now to be called to the hair and makeup trailer. For me, that was a full-circle moment.”

She, too, mentioned the film’s focus on mental health. “Mental disorders can’t be brushed under the rug. We need to help people. We need to find ways to make their lives better and incorporate them into society,” she says.

If you have yet to take a look into Three Christs, check out the trailer below!