"China's disdain for Richard stems from the 67-year-old's political remarks at the 1993 Academy Awards.
While presenting an award for art direction, he went off-script to protest China's occupation of Tibet and its "horrendous, horrendous human rights situation."
Then, in 1997, Richard starred in the thriller Red Corner as an American businessman who falls foul of China's legal system when he is wrongfully accused of murder.
"Everyone was happy with the film," Richard said. "I get calls from the heads of the studio. Went on Oprah. Then, out of nowhere, I get calls saying, 'We don't want you doing press.' MGM wanted to make an overall deal with the Chinese. China told them, 'If you release this film, we're not buying it.' And so, they dumped it."
That year, he was given a lifelong ban from entering China and soon found the backlash creeping into every aspect of his career.
"There was something I was going to do with a Chinese director, and two weeks before we were going to shoot, he called saying, 'Sorry, I can't do it,'" the American Gigolo and Chicago star revealed. "We had a secret phone call on a protected line. If I had worked with this director, he, his family would never have been allowed to leave the country ever again, and he would never work.""
While presenting an award for art direction, he went off-script to protest China's occupation of Tibet and its "horrendous, horrendous human rights situation."
Then, in 1997, Richard starred in the thriller Red Corner as an American businessman who falls foul of China's legal system when he is wrongfully accused of murder.
"Everyone was happy with the film," Richard said. "I get calls from the heads of the studio. Went on Oprah. Then, out of nowhere, I get calls saying, 'We don't want you doing press.' MGM wanted to make an overall deal with the Chinese. China told them, 'If you release this film, we're not buying it.' And so, they dumped it."
That year, he was given a lifelong ban from entering China and soon found the backlash creeping into every aspect of his career.
"There was something I was going to do with a Chinese director, and two weeks before we were going to shoot, he called saying, 'Sorry, I can't do it,'" the American Gigolo and Chicago star revealed. "We had a secret phone call on a protected line. If I had worked with this director, he, his family would never have been allowed to leave the country ever again, and he would never work.""