jean reindeer

During his extensive filmography he has worked with the best. Luc Besson, Robert de Niro, Roberto Benigni, Gérard Depardieu or Francis Veber are just some of them.

Jean Reno was born on July 30, 1948 in Casablanca when it was still part of the French protectorate, however it can be said that his origins are Spanish, since his parents were from Cádiz: he from Sanlúcar de Barrameda and she from Jerez de la Frontera. At age 17, Reno moved to France where he studied at Cours Simon. After his military service, he trained to be an actor and even formed a theater company.

Curiously, in his beginnings, he only played villain roles, especially due to his great height (1.91 meters) and his tough-guy face. But it didn’t take long for him to land comic and heroic roles as well. He participated in numerous films by French director Luc Besson , including his first short film L’Avant dernier . His best-known role is that of a contract killer in The Professional (León) , a 1994 Besson film. The actor was accompanied by a very young Natalie Portman . For his interpretation, he was nominated for a César Award. He automatically became Besson’s fetish actor, with whom he had previously worked in some of his films such as The Big Blue(1988). At that time, Reno was already known in Spain thanks to the success achieved by his role in the film The Visitors (1993), a fantastic comedy that narrates the adventures of two knights from the Middle Ages who are magically transported to the last decade of the twentieth century.

Two years later he was part of the cast of Mission Impossible , the first installment of the saga. In 1997, she starred in For the Love of Rosana , a drama that tells the story of a husband who, upon learning of the irreversible illness of her beloved wife, insists on making her last wish come true. A year later he took part in Godzilla , Roland Emmerich ‘s blockbuster about the famous giant lizard, and in Ronin , a solid action and spy film that also starred actors Robert de Niro and Sean Bean .

In later years he focused more on the comic genre. One of his most beloved comedies is Shut up!  (2003), in which he shares the lead with Gérard Depardieu , another great and well-known French actor. In 2005, the Italian and endearing Roberto Benigni entrusted him with a role in El tigre y la nieve . He would repeat himself in the genre when he intervened in The Pink Panther in 2006, an adaptation starring comedian Steve Martin and singer Beyoncé . That same year, moving away from comedies, he also stepped in with a supporting role in the unsuccessful and controversial film The Da Vinci Code .

One of his latest works has been El Chef (2012), a nice film that narrates the desperation of a young chef when he cannot get a job because he is totally misunderstood in the world of modern gastronomy.

Jean Reno has demonstrated her acting skills on numerous occasions, either in leading roles or in more secondary roles. In 2000 he was awarded the well-deserved European Film Award for his contribution to international cinema. The actor married for the third time in 2006 with Zofia Borucka, and has six children in total, born throughout his three marriages.