Berlin – Chancellor Angela Merkel appears to be striving for a little bit of glitz and glamour in the often grey world of German political life when she added on Thursday US actor Richard Gere to the list of Hollywood greats she has met.
Last year she had US actor and political activist George Clooney in for morning coffee to discuss the global refugee crisis.
This year it was Gere’s campaign in support of Tibet’s independence from China and human rights that was on the agenda when the star of “Pretty Woman” and “An Officer and A Gentleman” met the leader of Europe’s biggest economy.
Merkel and Gere spoke for about 45 minutes “about the situation in the (Tibetan) region,” the chancellor’s spokesman said in a Tweet.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and actor Richard Gere at the chancellery in Berlin on Thursday. Photo: Bundesregierung
But Merkel is also likely to be hoping that her brush with the stars will result in a little bit of Hollywood razzle-dazzle rubbing off onto her campaign for a fourth term in office in a national election set down for later this year.
She has also met US actor Tom Hanks and Hollywood director Steven Spielberg in the past.
No further details were released about Thursday’s talks between the Merkel and Gere, who was in the German capital for the world premiere of his latest movie, “The Dinner,” at the Berlin Film Festival.
Gere is also a long-running critic of US President Donald Trump, once describing a Trump presidency as “everybody’s nightmare.”
As a result, the actor’s meeting with Merkel might have also strayed into the rather fraught subject of the new US president.
On Wednesday, Gere described Germany as an inspiration amid the chaos gripping his own nation in the wake of Trump taking over the presidency.
“I come from a country that is very chaotic at the moment,” Gere said in Berlin on Wednesday. “And frankly, we are looking at Germany to inspire us.”
The Germans and their government have shown courage, especially in refugee policy, said Gere, referring to Merkel’s controversial decision in September 2015 to open Germany’s borders to allow nearly one million refugees into the country.
The 67-year-old Hollywood star and political activist was speaking after talks with German human rights campaigner and Green party politician Claudia Roth.
The Berlinale prides itself on being the most political of all the major movie festivals.
A friend of the Dalai Lama, Gere has also campaigned for AIDS awareness and tribal rights around the world, while describing US involvement in the Iraq war as “a tragedy.”
-dpa
