JEAN RENO is the renowned French actor who rapidly gained recognition among American audiences with pivotal roles in box office blockbusters such as Brian DePalma's Mission: Impossible opposite Tom Cruise, Roland Emmerich's Godzilla, Luc Besson's The Professional with Natalie Portman and John Frankenheimer's Ronin opposite Robert De Niro. Reno recently starred opposite Steve Martin in The Pink Panther, which opened at #1 at the box office. Upcoming for Reno is a co-starring role opposite James Franco in Tony Bill’s World War I epic Flyboys, produced by Godzilla producer Dean Devlin, as well as Mark Frydman and David Brown. He just finished shooting Kenneth Lonergan’s Margaret with Mark Ruffalo, Matt Damon and Anna Paquin.
Reno is one of France's most revered and respected actors, having starred opposite Gérard Depardieu in the blockbuster comedy Tais-toi! and Les Visiteurs, which became the highest grossing film in French box office history when it was released. Its sequel, Les Visiteurs II, also broke box office records. More recently, Reno touched American audiences with his romantic portrayal of a love-struck gourmet chef who sweeps Juliette Binoche off her feet in Jet Lag. He also starred in L'Empire de Loups (Empire of the Wolves), based on a bestselling French novel by Jean-Christophe Grangé who also wrote Crimson Rivers, a novel that was also made into a blockbuster feature film starring Reno. He was also featured in Roberto Benigni's The Tiger and the Snow.
He has also enjoyed a tremendously successful collaboration with the acclaimed French director Luc Besson. In addition to The Professional, he has co-starred in Besson's Le Dernier Combat, Subway opposite Christopher Lambert and Isabelle Adjani, The Big Blue opposite Roseanna Arquette and the acclaimed thriller La Femme Nikita opposite Anne Parillaud. The duo also collaborated on the making of Wasabi, in which Reno also starred.
Born in Casablanca to Spanish parents, Reno pursued his dream of acting in France after serving his military service in Germany. Settling in Paris, Reno joined stage director Didier Flamand in a traveling theater company that took him around the country. His screen debut was in the French film Claire de Femme directed by Costa Gavras. Other international film credits include Francis Veber's Le Jaguar, Christian Lejalé’s Loulou Graffiti, Jean-Marie Poire's L'Operation Corned Beef, Eric Duret's L'Homme Au Masque D'Or, Marco Ferreri's I Love You, Bertrand Blier's Notre Histoire and Jacques Monnet's Signes Exterieurs de Richesse. Other American film credits include Paul Weiland's For Roseanna in which he co-starred opposite Mercedes Ruehl, Lawrence Kasdan's French Kiss with Kevin Kline and Meg Ryan and John McTiernan's Rollerball.
Reno just directed his first opera, a production of Puccini's “Manon Lescaut” for the Teatro Regio Torino.
Reno, who spoke only his native Spanish, for the first 11 years of his life, speaks fluent French, Italian, English and Japanese. He divides his time between the South of France, Corsica, New York and Los Angeles.
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