French actor Jean Reno was born on July 30, 1948 in Casablanca, Morocco. His parents moved to North Africa to escape the fascist dictatorship of Francisco Franco, and Reno moved to France at the age of 17. He began studying drama and is credited in French films, television and theater.
Jean Reno started playing villainous brutes early on in his career, owing to his tall frame. He has broken away from his stereotypical role and was then cast in a variety of films, including romantic comedies. His career began in French cinema, playing a variety of Luc Besson films. One of these is 1981’s L’Avant Dernier. They have worked together on a number of projects, the most famous of which include Nikita in 1990, and English-language films The Big Blue in 1988 and Léon (The Professional in the US) in 1994. Jean Reno has also done voiceover work in the French version of The Lion King as the character Mufasa.
In 1995, Jean Reno starred in a high-profile American movie, French Kiss, playing alongside Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline. Three years later, he starred with Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible and with Robert De Niro in Ronin. He also turned down the role of Agent Smith in The Matrix to play Philippe Roaché in Godzilla. He has starred in numerous French films while taking on these roles. Reno has appeared in the 1993 Les Visiteurs, which was later remade in English as Just Visiting. He was also in 2000’s The Crimson Rivers. He was given the prominent role of Ponton in the 2006 remake The Pink Panther, where he co-starred with Steve Martin and once again, Kevin Kline. He was subsequently cast as Captain Bezu Fache in Ron Howard’s film adaptation of The Da Vinci Code, starring Tom Hanks and fellow French actress Audrey Tautou. Reno also lent his voice to the character Le Frog in the animation Flushed Away, and was given the role of Capt. Thenault in Flyboys. In 2008, he appeared as Maxime-Dubreuil in Ca$h.