Stoic actor Jean Reno has been a major movie star in France for nearly 20 years, and has become a regular supporting actor in Hollywood blockbusters like “Mission: Impossible” and “Godzilla”. Currently starring in “The Da Vinci Code” with Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, and Ian McKellen, Reno is one of the most successful international stars in recent memory.
Reno was born on July 30, 1948 in Casablanca to Andalusian parents who fled the oppressive regime of Spain’s Francisco Franco. Reno remained in Morocco for much of his early life, but moved to Paris in his teens. The intimidating actor began his career as a performer in his 30s, and made his French film debut in 1979’s “The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting”. Reno found stardom with two of director Luc Besson’s films, 1985’s “Subway” and 1988’s “The Big Blue”. Due to his collaborations with Besson, Reno became associated with a new generation of French cinema influenced by the ‘high concept’ style of 80s Hollywood. Extremely entertaining though critically reviled, films like “The Big Blue” and “The Final Combat” were extremely influential for future mainstream cinema in France and abroad, though many saw them as populist rejections of the rich history of French art cinema.
However, regardless of the pedigree of 80s French cinema Reno was becoming an enormously popular actor in thrillers and action films, and after appearing in another hit Besson film, the oft-imitated “Nikita”, he made a gripping Hollywood debut with Besson’s “The Professional”. The smash hit action film saw Reno playing bodyguard to a young Natalie Portman in her mezmerizing first screen appearance. Reno was at turns sexy and menacing in the thrilling 1994 actioner, and it put him on a path to more high-profile English-language roles. His next major role, opposite Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline in the romantic comedy “French Kiss”, showed his ability to depart from stone-faced anti-hero roles, and he soon broke out into tough supporting parts in several Hollywood blockbusters: alongside Tom Cruise in “Mission: Impossible”, in the mega-budget “Godzilla”, and opposite a disgruntled Robert De Niro in John Frankenheimer’s stunning thriller “Ronin”.
Reno remains a powerful and respected actor, and has continued appearing in major Hollywood productions like “Rollerball” and 2006’s “Pink Panther” remake, while also staying committed to French productions. In the latter category he has recently starred in the hit thriller “The Crimson Rivers” and alongside the radiant Oscar-winner Juliette Binoche in the charming romance “Jet Lag”. Returning to one of his more popular character types, Reno is now on screen as Inspector Bezu Fache in Ron Howard’s “The Da Vinci Code”.