Homer Gere Reveals First Person He Told About Landing “The Shards” Role, and It Wasn’t Dad Richard Gere (Exclusive)

Homer stars in ‘The Shards’ as Robert Mallory, a new kid in town whose arrival comes just as a serial killer emerges in Los Angeles

NEED TO KNOW

• Richard Gere revealed the first person he told about getting cast in The Shards
• Homer, the son of Richard Gere, stars in the Ryan Murphy series as Robert Mallory, a new kid in town whose arrival comes just as a serial killer emerges in Los Angeles
• The Shards is available to stream on FX and Hulu, with new episodes releasing weekly on Wednesdays, starting with the Aug. 5 premiere

After getting cast in The Shards, Homer Gere shared the news with one special person.

Gere, 26, stars in Ryan Murphy’s new thriller series as the new kid in town, Robert Mallory, marking his first starring role. Ahead of the series’ premiere on Wednesday, Aug. 5, the actor revealed the first person he remembered calling after booking the FX series based on Bret Easton Ellis’ 2023 bestselling novel of the same name. 

“I called my mom,” the son of Richard Gere and Carey Lowell tells PEOPLE during a press junket on July 28. “She was like, ‘Oh, honey, I’m so proud of you.’ ” 

In The Shards, Robert is a mysterious student who moves to Los Angeles just as a serial killer emerges in the city. Unsettled by the timing of his arrival, Bret (Igby Rigney) grows suspicious of Robert and starts to believe he may be the murderer. 

As Robert creeps his way into Bret’s “glamorous and deeply entangled” friend group — which includes Debbie, Susan and Thom (Hayes Warner, Kaia Gerber and Graham Campbell, respectively) — their lives are upended, and their relationships unravel. 

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For Homer, playing a disruptor like Robert was “really fun.”

“There’s a quality about Robert that was really appealing to me,” he tells PEOPLE. “There’s a sense of irony and almost satire, a little bit, with Robert. Like he’s self-aware. That really drew it to me. There’s a joke, and he’s aware of it. And he really wants Bret to be aware of it too.” 

When asked why he thinks Robert has power over Bret and his friends, Homer says, “Listen, I think if a new kid breaks up a friend group, the friend group wasn’t that strong.”

At The Shards’ New York City premiere on July 27, Homer told PEOPLE that he’s received “a lot” of advice from his father, though it’s “rarely about the actual craft.” 

“It’s not like, ‘What should I do in this scene?’ It’s more like, how to carry yourself on set, how to make an acting career work in a way that’s sustainable,” he said. “And for that, he’s been the most invaluable resource. I mean, truly better than I could possibly hope for, from anyone.”

Homer also shared that Chicago was his favorite movie from his father’s filmography. 

“I had the Chicago songs that he sang on my iPod because I had a little separation anxiety on the school bus,” he said. “I would listen to his songs on the school bus to soothe my separation anxiety.”

Aside from starring in The Shards, Homer appeared in two episodes of Euphoria. Back in June, Richard, 76, told PEOPLE that he’s proud of Homer’s acting career.

“One, he’s really good. He really kind of preternaturally knows what he’s doing. But he’s also handling it really well. He’s a good kid,” Richard said. “He’s a really good young man who kind of gets it, and this is not an easy job. Not everyone can function within it. So I think he can stay.”

“I still need to see his second episode of Euphoria, but he has this big thing coming up with Ryan Murphy, and he just finished shooting a film with Oliver Stone,” he added, joking, “So I can retire now. I’m passing the torch.”

The Shards premieres on FX and Hulu on Aug. 5.