Born:
July 30, 1948
in
Casablanca, Morocco
Best Known For:
Hitman movie Leon.
Early-life:
Born in Casablanca, Morocco, on July 30, 1948, to Spanish parents (from Andalusia) who moved to North Africa to escape the fascist regime of Francisco Franco ("El Caudillo"), Jean Reno settled in France at 17. He began studying drama and has credits in French TV and theatre as well as films.
Career:
Reno's career began in French cinema, where he appeared in many of Luc Besson's films, including Besson's first short film, L'Avant dernier. All of the films they have done together have achieved critical and commercial success, including Nikita (1990), the English-language films The Big Blue (1988), and Léon (1994) which features a young Natalie Portman. Reno has starred in such high-profile American films as French Kiss (1995) with Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline, Mission: Impossible (1996) with Tom Cruise, Ronin (1998) with Robert De Niro, and Godzilla (1998). Reno turned down the role of Agent Smith in the The Matrix. He has not neglected to work in French productions either—e.g., Les Visiteurs (1993) and The Crimson Rivers (2000). He also portrayed Captain Bezu Fache in the Ron Howard film The Da Vinci Code. More recent work includes Margaret, Les Seigneurs, and TV police drama Jo.
Quote:
"The advantage of being eighty years old is that one has had many people to love."
Trivia:
Reno speaks Spanish, English, French and Italian.