Richard Gere has revealed that he accepted the role of Julian Kaye in the 1980 drama American Gigolo because of the gay subtext in the film.

The actor spoke about his career and his most famous roles in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly.

American Gigolo, which also catapulted fashion designer Giorgio Armani to fame, tells the story of a high-paid hustler who becomes embroiled in a murder investigation.

Gere stepped into the role at short notice after John Travolta dropped out just two weeks before filming began.

The character of Julian was a departure for Gere, who had never played such a complex figure before.

He told interviewer Dave Karger that he had reservations about taking on the role.

“This is a character I don’t know very well.

I don’t own a suit.

He speaks languages; I don’t speak any languages.

There’s kind of a gay thing that’s flirting through it and I didn’t know the gay community at all,” he said.

Despite his initial hesitations, Gere decided to take the part in order to immerse himself in the world of the film.

He had just two weeks to prepare for the shoot, but he threw himself into the role.

“I just dove in,” he recalled.

The film’s nudity, including a full-frontal scene from Gere, was not originally in the script.

However, the actor did not object to the inclusion of such scenes.

“I certainly felt vulnerable, but I think it’s different for men than women,” he said.

The release of American Gigolo saw Gere become a huge star.

However, he continued to seek out challenging and unconventional roles.

In the same year that the film was released, Gere appeared on Broadway in the play Bent.

The production, which dealt with the persecution of homosexuals in Nazi Germany, was another step in the actor’s exploration of gay themes.