Richard Gere has been in South Africa shooting some scenes for the latest Mira Nair film “Amelia,” based on the autobiography of pioneer aviator Amelia Earhart.

The actor stayed in a humble R200-a-night cottage last weekend and took meals at the Seagulls Hotel. Hotel manager Jean Sahd said the actor had “such charisma” about him. “I first met him on Saturday afternoon when he arrived. I nearly died, I was so nervous,” she said. The hotel held a welcoming party for the stars, treating them to traditional dancing and platters brimming with fish, oysters and calamari steaks.“The kitchen staff were singing Xhosa welcome songs. Richard was loving it and Hillary got up, clapping and dancing along,” said Sahd.

During an attempt to circumnavigate the globe in 1937, Earhart, along with navigator Fred Noonan, disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean near Howland Island. Earhart and Noonan were never found, nor were any physical remains of their aircraft, resulting in a fascination with her life, career and disappearance that continues to this day.

The Times spotted the actor immersed in his role as Earhart’s magazine publisher husband, George Putnam. Hilary Swank, who plays the grown up Amelia, and Ewan McGregor, who plays Gene Vidal, were nowhere to be seen despite being rumoured as being in the country. Having wrapped shooting in Johannesburg on the 31st of July, shooting has since resumed in Cape Town, with a few scenes still to be shot in Nova Scotia, Canada. The film is due for release next year.

SA has become a sort of hotspot in terms of filming, with “Blood Diamond “with Leonardo DiCaprio, “Ali” starring Will Smith, “Ask The Dust” featuring Collin Farrell and Salma Hayek and “Country of My Skull” with Juliette Binoche and Samuel L Jackson, amongst others, having been shot in SA. And I have yet to meet a single soul, I guess I need to catch a wakeup.