On Wednesday, "Pretty Woman" heartthrob Richard Gere praised Germany as a model of stability while his own United States grows increasingly unstable under the thumb of new President Donald Trump.  The 67-year-old Hollywood star and political activist made his remarks after talks with Claudia Roth, a Bundestag vice president, leading member of the Greens and old friend of Gere's.

"I come from a country that is very chaotic at the moment," Gere said in Berlin on Wednesday. "And, frankly, we are looking to Germany to inspire us." He said the country had shown courage in its initial willingness to take in displaced people when other nations would not.

The chairman of the board of the International Campaign for Tibet and the star of such films as "An Officer and a Gentleman," "King David" and the 2003 musical "Chicago," Gere plans to meet Angela Merkel privately at the Chancellery on Thursday. He advocates a China policy that takes Tibetan self-determination into account.

Gere came to Germany for the world premiere of his new movie, "The Dinner," at the Berlinale film festival, which opens on Thursday. Directed by the US's Oren Moverman, the thriller follows parents as they weigh how to deal with a terrible crime committed by their children.

mkg/es (AFP, dpa)