Richard Gere Isn’t Just Friends With the Dalai Lama — He Also Practices Buddhism

If you haven’t kept up with iconic actor Richard Gere, best known for Pretty Woman, you might not know he’s actually a close friend of the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. Yes, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, widely sought for his wisdom and guidance.

You probably only learned about their connection after the release of the film/documentary Wisdom of Happiness on Oct. 16, 2025, which Richard executive-produced alongside Oren Moverman.

Richard doesn’t just consider the Dalai Lama a friend, though, he also sees him as a mentor and, like many around the world, refers to him as His Holiness. In fact, Richard is also a practicing Buddhist.

Here’s everything to know about why he went down this path and his longtime friendship with the Dalai Lama.

Richard Gere and the Dalai Lama’s relationship dates back decades, over 40 years ago. Richard widely regards him as a friend, mentor, and spiritual teacher, someone he holds in the utmost respect. Interestingly, it was Richard who sought out the Dalai Lama, not the other way around (hey, anyone can be a Pretty Woman fan!).

Richard was in his thirties when he decided to embark on a mission to find a moment of “enlightenment,” as he explained in a 2022 interview with NDTV. However, in a later GQ interview, he revealed that he actually started practicing Buddhism at 22.

The actor said he had many perplexing life questions without clear-cut answers, but he wanted to find the closest possible ones. “I wanted to know why I was miserable and everyone else was miserable. I wanted to know why people suffer. I wanted to know why things go so wrong,” he shared.

So, he headed to Dharamshala, India, where His Holiness lives after being exiled. It ended up being quite the adventure thanks to a monsoon, Richard recalled to GQ.

While his Buddhist journey really started with him seeking answers, he says he “found something better… a teacher,” and even discovered a “culture [he] fell in love with.” While his initial expectation of the Dalai Lama was a “romantic idea” he had in his head, meeting him in person helped Richard “get right over most of the silliness that everyone has when they meet him and this outsized expectation that he’s going to enlighten you and you’ll leave there on a cloud.”

From that moment on, the two developed a close-knit relationship, with Richard learning from him and addressing him as His Holiness. Richard believes the Dalai Lama speaks only the truth and told GQ that he’s really just “simple and direct and honest. There’s no pretense about him whatsoever.”

He compared talking to him to speaking with “a favorite uncle, or your idealized version of your dad, or a college professor who you thought was just the greatest guy in the world.”

It’s obvious the Dalai Lama has played a very important role in Richard’s life, and the actor has shared many memorable moments with His Holiness, including celebrating his 87th birthday.

Considering how much he has learned and grown from his relationship with the Dalai Lama, Richard decided to collaborate as a producer on Wisdom of Happiness. The project was initially started by Swiss filmmakers who captured what Richard called “extraordinary footage,” and he joined on to share His Holiness (and his messages) with the world.

To be clear, Richard explained in an October 2025 interview with TODAY, “It’s not really a documentary… it’s kind of a hybrid.” He added, “It’s bringing together this man’s life,” saying, “Part of this is a doc about who he is and where he came from, but the strongest part of it… the core of this is him teaching and his perspective of why this world is so crazy that we’re in right now and how to get out of it.”