Carey Lowell fell for Richard Gere while watching ‘An Officer and a Gentleman’

"Law & Order" star Carey Lowell first fell for Richard Gere when she saw him onscreen in "An Officer and a Gentleman" in 1982. Tuesday night at an exclusive the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences screening in New York to celebrate the movie's 30th anniversary, she told Yahoo! Movies that she remembers her movie crush started an argument with her then-boyfriend after a movie date in the Hamptons. They argued when Lowell confessed to her date that she found Gere attractive. It made the guy jealous and they argued. Twenty years later, she married Gere and they have a 12-year-old son, Homer.

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Gere, 62, silver-haired, and still drop-dead handsome, was in attendance at the screening at the Lighthouse Theater in Manhattan. Taylor Hackford's romantic drama paired Gere and a young Debra Winger as opposites who attract: He is in naval flight school and she works in a local factory. Fans will remember Lou Gossett Jr.'s tough Sgt. Emil Foley nicknaming Gere's Zack Mayo "mayonnaise." Gossett went on to win the best-supporting actor Oscar that year, and the '80s pop hit "Up Where We Belong," which launched a million wedding receptions, also won an Oscar. The movie had an additional four nominations, including Winger for best actress. Gere was not nominated.

"The film holds up," said Dave Karger, senior editor at Entertainment Weekly and EW.com. Karger conducted the post-screening Q&A with Gere. About the star's rumored thorny collaboration with onscreen love Winger, Gere remained a gentleman and stayed mum. Winger, who is preparing for a Broadway run in David Mamet's "The Anarchist," was absent from the screening. Gere told the audience that he saw Winger in November at the Sixth International Rome Film Festival, where the actress presented him with a lifetime achievement award. He said she looked great and was eager to get back into acting. She can currently be seen in theaters in "Lola Versus." Neither star has received an Oscar, although Winger has been nominated for best actress three times.

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During the post-screening Q&A, Gere also revealed that he hadn't watched the film in its entirety since 1982. He confessed that seeing it again was an emotional experience for him, especially sharing it this time with his wife, Carey.