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New Film Features Hudson Valley's Richard Gere, Michael Imperioli

An upcoming feature film centering on the experiences of a draft evader who fled to Canada is set to feature a star-studded cast, including two familiar faces who hail from the Hudson Valley. 

North Salem resident Richard Gere (left) and former Brewster resident and Mount Vernon native Michael Imperioli. 

North Salem resident Richard Gere (left) and former Brewster resident and Mount Vernon native Michael Imperioli. 

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons via Harald Krichel, Josh Miller

'Oh, Canada,' which releases in theaters on Thursday, Dec. 5, will star Northern Westchester resident Richard Gere, age 75, who owns a North Salem residence, in the main role of filmmaker Leonard Fife. 

Additionally, Westchester County native and former Putnam County resident Michael Imperioli, age 58, who grew up in Brewster after his family moved there from Mount Vernon when he was 11 per The Wall Street Journal, will play the role of Fife's former student, Malcolm. 

The movie will depict both an older Fife, played by Gere, as well as his younger self, played by rising star Jacob Elordi, who will appear in flashbacks set in the 1960s depicting his move to Canada to avoid being drafted in the Vietnam War, according to the film's trailer. 

In addition to Gere, Imperioli, and Elordi, Uma Thurman will also appear in the movie as Fife's wife, Emma. 

The film will center on Gere's character, who is battling an illness, sitting down for an extended interview with Imperioli's role in which he relates "candid stories about his younger self in the tumultuous 1960s and beyond," according to the movie's distributor, Kino Lorber. 

The film is directed by Paul Schrader, who worked with Martin Scorsese on iconic movies like "Taxi Driver" and "Raging Bull" and also collaborated with Gere in the 1980 movie "American Gigolo." 

In addition to being Schrader's second film with Gere, the movie also serves as an adaptation of the 2021 novel "Foregone," written by Russell Banks. 

So far, the movie has received a mostly warm reception from critics and currently has a 67 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Click here to watch the full trailer. 

It will be the latest in a long list of credits for both Gere, known for "An Officer and a Gentleman" and "Pretty Woman," and Imperioli, who rose to fame for his work on HBO's "The Sopranos" and also appeared in another of the network's hit shows, "White Lotus." 

Gere, who owns a North Salem property and also sold his 32-acre property in the Connecticut town of New Canaan in October, made headlines in early November when he revealed he would be leaving the US to move to Spain. 

The "American Gigolo" star explained to Vanity Fair Spain that his wife, Alejandra Silva, is from La Coruña, Spain, and he wants to live closer to his in-laws. 

Gere and Silva, age 41, married in 2018 and have two young children. They have lived in Fairfield County for the past two years. 

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