Richard Gere and his wife Alejandra Silva draw on Buddhism to help them find solutions to family problems.

The Pretty Woman star - who has sons Alexander, six, and James, five, with Alejandra - explained in the new issue of Britain's HELLO! magazine: "Well, interesting you should bring that up because we were just having a drama about one of our kids.

"[Alejandra] is always really good with [saying]: 'OK, I know I want to strangle you right now, but I'm going to take a deep breath, and we're going to talk through this. OK, now what's going on? I'd like to know what are you feeling?'"

She chimed in: "Like Richard has said before, there is a lot of patience that is brought into the equation.

"Introducing the kids to Buddhism and what it means is important."

Richard - who also has a 25-year-old son called Homer with his 64-year-old ex-wife, actress Carey Lowell - admitted Alejandra's parenting style has made him become a better dad,

He said: "She's an incredible mother that way. I've actually learnt how to be a better father by watching her."

Alejandra knew Richard as a family friend for 10 years before a mutual pal introduced them in 2014 at her family's hotel, located in Positano, Italy.

Richard has created a documentary about the Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism, and how people can find inner peace and compassion in the world.

And he said Alejandra did not hesitate to embrace Buddhism after they started dating.

The Chicago actor said: "She must have had previous lifetimes because it happened very quickly for her.

"We had just started going out, and I was meditating. I said, 'You sit there, you can read; I'm just going to meditate.'

"She said, 'What are you doing?' We started talking about what I was doing, and it was just so natural for her."

Alejandra added: "Immediately, the door opened."

And asked about the important teaching of Buddhism, Richard said: "Patience. Just patience with yourself and everybody else.

"These things take time. But it's like playing the piano - you have to practise and practise and practise, and then you're able to achieve something."