Generous Tourist In New York Gives ‘Homeless Man’ Her Pizza – Only To Realize It’s Richard Gere

Apr 11, 2025

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A New York tourist got the shock of her life after sharing her leftover pizza with a homeless man who turned out to be none other than Hollywood actor Richard Gere. The star, 75, best known for movies such as “Pretty Woman,” “Runaway Bride,” “American Gigolo,” and “Shall We Dance?” was on the set of his movie, “Time Out Of Mind” in which he played George, a down-on-his-luck homeless guy. The French tourist, identified as Karine Gombeau, was visiting the Big Apple with her husband and teenage son when the incident occurred near Grand Central Station. Unbeknownst to her, they had stumbled onto the set of Gere’s movie, and the actor was on the street in character mode. Spotting grimy clothes, holding a bottle of beer in a paperback and eating a burger he’d gotten from a trash can, the actor was barely recognizable.

The documentary film, also starring Jena Malone and Kyra Sedgwick, hit the cinemas on Sept. 11, 2014. In a now-viral YouTube video, which amassed over two million views, the actor could be seen eating from a trash can in the middle of New York City. In additional images, Gombeau could be seen approaching the actor with a bag of food in a profoundly generous move. Gombeau, 42, told The New York Post that they had leftovers from the enormous pizza they’d ordered, and she decided to share it with the actor, whom she thought was a homeless man on the streets. The Frenchwoman shared her version of events of the highlight of her four-day New York trip sightseeing in Times Square, Chinatown and in Ellis Island with The Post. Read ahead for more on the interesting encounter!

What started out as a regular tourist trip to Little Italy for Goumbeau and her family turned out to be a very interesting meet-up with one of Hollywood’s biggest icons. The tourist revealed to The Post that she spotted a homeless-looking man searching for food in a trash can and wanted to help him. She described how the family of three had ordered an “enormous” pizza and felt inclined to share when she spotted the actor deep in a scene.

“I tried to tell him in English, but it came out half in French,” she stated. “I said, ‘Je suis désolée (I am sorry), but the pizza is cold.’ ”

Unperturbed, Gere accepted the gesture of kindness with minimal fuss. According to Gombeau, Gere was gracious and thanked her for the gesture of kindness:

“He said, ‘Thank you so much. God bless you,’ ” she told The New York Post.

The tourist offered heartwarming insight into her decision to help. It restored faith in humanity to the many viewers in the comment section. According to Gombeau:

“It leaves me really sad to know we waste food and they have nothing,” she informed them. She added, “It’s unimaginable that something like this could happen. I think he’s very handsome, even at his age.”

Gombeau ironically only found out the homeless man was Gere two days later when a hotel employee showed her a picture of herself in the paper. The fact that they were on a film set was further proved by the fact that her husband had been told to stop filming the encounter on his phone.

The actor’s representative also had kind words to share about the viral encounter. In a statement, his publicist told TODAY:

“She was a complete stranger who just happened to see him acting... It’s a sweet story.”

This was indeed a very wholesome and sweet celebrity encounter!

What do you think of this heartwarming moment? What would you have done if someone you helped turned out to be a celebrity? Let us know your thoughts, and then pass this on to your loved ones!