Copyright hellomagazine
As they step out together on the red carpet for a screening of his documentary Wisdom of Happiness, Richard Gere and Alejandra Silva open up about their marriage in an exclusive interview with HELLO!, the Hollywood star revealing that his secret to staying grounded is to kiss his wife every day. Asked which daily activity provides him with a sense of calm, Richard, 76 – who has two sons, aged five and six, with Alejandra – prompts a smile when he replies: "Kissing my wife. When she lets me, which isn’t all the time." Alejandra adds: "Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Otherwise, it would be too easy, right?" The couple also reveal that they draw on Buddhism to help them solve family issues. When asked how their shared faith influences their parenting, Richard replies: "Well, interesting you should bring that up, because we were just having a drama about one of our kids. [Alejandra] is always really good with [saying]: 'OK, I know I want to strangle you right now, but I’m going to take a deep breath and we’re going to talk through this. OK, now what’s going on? I'd like to know what are you feeling.' " Alejandra, who has been practising Buddhism since the beginning of their relationship, agrees that forbearance is fundamental to their faith. "Like Richard has said before, there is a lot of patience that is brought into the equation," she says. "Introducing the kids to Buddhism and what it means is important." Richard, in turn, credits her with making him a better parent. "She’s an incredible mother that way. I’ve actually learnt how to be a better father by watching her," he said. Alejandra was born in La Coruña to Paola Garcia-Baquero and Ignacio Silva, a businessman who would later become vice‑president of Real Madrid football club. She went to school in Dorset aged 15, before returning to Spain to study marketing and advertising. She knew Richard as a family friend for at least ten years before a mutual friend reintroduced them in 2014 at her family’s hotel in Positano, Italy. She recalls that he sent her flowers until she agreed to go on a date. "Our karma was attracted the moment we saw each other,” she told ¡hola! in 2015. "I’m not ignoring our age difference and what it means to be with a Hollywood star, but when there’s such a strong karmic energy, the problems disappear." The couple welcomed Alexander in 2019, the year after they married, and James in 2020. Richard is also father to Homer, 25, from his marriage to the actress Carey Lowell. The family have now moved to America, following an enjoyable period in Alejandra’s native country. "We had our family in Spain for one year," Richard says. "She was really happy, because [of] her family and friends and her culture and her city and food – all of it, all of the cultural great stuff – so that was fabulous." Spiritual union Richard’s documentary is about the Dalai Lama and how to find inner peace and compassion in the modern world, and the actor tells us that Alejandra rapidly embraced Buddhism after they began dating. "She must have had previous lifetimes, because it happened very quickly for her," he says. "We had just started going out and I was meditating. I said: 'You sit there, you can read; I'm just going to meditate.' She said: 'What are you doing?' We started talking about what I was doing and it was just so natural for her." Alejandra adds: "Immediately, the door opened." And the most important teaching of Buddhism? "Patience. Just patience with yourself and with everybody else," Richard says. "These things take time. But it’s like playing the piano – you have to practise and practise and practise, and then you’re able to achieve something." To read the full exclusive interview, pick up the latest issue of HELLO! on sale in the UK on Monday. You can subscribe to HELLO! to get the magazine delivered free to your door every week or purchase the digital edition online via our Apple or Google apps.
