Richard Gere Responds to Viral Homeless Photo

— -- After a photo of Richard Gere dressed as a homeless man for his latest film went viral on social media, the usually private actor is inviting others to have a dialogue with him about the issue of homelessness.

"Hi, Richard Gere here," the 66-year-old actor wrote on co-star Jena Malone's Facebook page, since he's not currently on social media. "I was completely surprised to find that last week someone posted a photo of me on a Facebook fan page as a homeless man on the streets of New York that drew 1.6 million likes and over a half-a-million shares."

The photo of him as a homeless man for his new film, "Time Out of Mind," was posted to a fan site earlier this month, along with a story of him handing out $100 bills after he finished filming.

"While the story that accompanied the photograph was somewhat fictional (especially the $100 hand-outs), it seemed to have touched something important in people," he continued. "I'd like to find out what that is and what we can do together to make something good and meaningful happen for our homeless brothers and sisters."

Gere will be hosting a fan Q&A on Malone's Facebook page Wednesday morning to discuss homelessness and "Time Out of Mind." He'll be joined by the film's director Oren Moverman. The Q&A starts at 11 a.m. ET.

"I hope you'll join us," Gere concluded the post. "We're excited to see what happens."