“Americans are completely responsible for having Trump as president. We elected him, and now we’re suffering the consequences. We need to change that,” he said
Richard Gere is a man full of memorable lines. With the experience to command and shape any stage, he arrived at the Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL) to speak about compassion and the possibility of building a better world together. But the hundreds of attendees at his talk had other plans: a large majority greeted him with cheers, whistles, and shouts of “papacito!”
“I’m your Vivian!” some yelled, alluding to Julia Roberts’ character in Pretty Woman. “¡Me lo como!” another shouted. “I would absolutely marry him,” someone else said.
Gere is a natural provocateur—and he knows it. He smiles at the audience, accepts the compliments with a touch of amused condescension, and blows a few kisses that leave more than a few people swooning. Breaking protocol, before even sitting down he walks to the microphone and says a few words in Spanish with a mischievous grin and the kind of body language worthy of what he is: a Hollywood legend.
“I love you too,” he said, as the women’s shouts continued nonstop.
This is the magic of the Guadalajara International Book Fair—an event so inclusive and so overwhelming that it can host someone like Gere on the same stage where, only hours earlier, Catalan musician Joan Manuel Serrat had appeared. It’s a reminder that in the world of books, everyone has a place—whether you were exiled from Franco’s dictatorship or played a gigolo in an American film.
But Gere wasn’t there to strut around like he was on a catwalk. As a group of teenagers repeatedly shouted, “Richard!”—for decades he has been an actor deeply committed to social causes, to Buddhism, and to humanism.
“Transformation begins with how we look at things,” he said as his conversation with Alicia Bárcena—Mexico’s Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources—began. And Gere, a close friend of the Dalai Lama, knows what he’s talking about.
“I feel like I’m 26,” he teased, to the delight of the audience. The excitement and joy he stirred among the women was such that almost anything he said could work in his favor.
“Americans are completely responsible for having Trump as president. We elected him, and now we’re suffering the consequences. We need to change that,” he said, addressing the political tension in the United States.
Nothing changes without time, he explained. We fail to respond to change, and we fail to nurture the courage to be more than ourselves—more than our egos. Every human being, he insisted, is inherently wonderful and gifted.
Bárcena invited him to talk about his personal transformation—from a celebrated actor to a prominent activist for social causes and climate change, a follower of Buddhism, and a public figure who uses his voice to amplify injustice.
“We all know the world has enough resources to feed everyone. We know we have the means to ensure people don’t suffer the way they do. Yet wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few while the majority goes hungry,” Gere said.
He emphasized an idea he often hears from the Dalai Lama: “I love time. It means change. It means accepting the changes life brings and facing them consciously.”
Nothing changes without time, he explained. We fail to respond to change, and we fail to nurture the courage to be more than ourselves—more than our egos. Every human being, he insisted, is inherently wonderful and gifted.
“That’s why it’s so important to accept that if we don’t work together, we won’t move forward. We have to collaborate if we want a better world,” he said. “Everything is an illusion; everything changes.”
TRUMP: “You have to treat him like a child.”
When Bárcena asked Gere about the “Trump effect,” which has made the world more confrontational and unstable, he didn’t hesitate:
“Americans are responsible for this—we voted for him. It’s terrible, and we’re paying the price. Now we have to act and change it. That’s the path forward: to wake up and dissect what’s happening, to change things with gratitude and wisdom.”
Gere turned to the audience, his voice charged with emotion.
“As an American, I feel ashamed. Dealing with Trump—an angry person, who lacks the wisdom that comes from gratitude, who thinks that being difficult will solve things—is exasperating. It’s like dealing with an angry child.”
And it isn’t just Trump, he added—the world is full of “darker characters,” harmful leaders. That’s why it’s necessary to awaken, to cultivate spiritual values, to act with wisdom, and not let negative forces shape our behavior.
“We have to understand who we are and act from a place of love. And what is love? Wanting the other person to be happy. We have to challenge what we take for granted. We all want to change this world—I don’t think anyone wants to keep living like this. If we don’t change, predicting the apocalypse becomes easy.”
This is why building a social network—a true community—is essential. Gere is convinced no one can do it alone; we must work in small microspaces to cultivate the values we need. We must practice compassion and guide evolution.
He closed with a line from the Dalai Lama that he has made his own:
“My religion is kindness… it is wisdom. Trump is our responsibility.”
