Jean Reno

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 DeNiro. Reno also starred opposite Steve Martin in The Pink Panther and opposite Tom Hanks, Paul Bettany and Audrey Tatou in Sony Pictures' The DaVinci Code, directed by Ron Howard. He also starred in Couples Retreat alongside Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau, and Jason Bateman.

Just prior to his work on I, Alex Cross, Reno filmed the comedy You Don't Choose Your Family which was directed by his Les Visateur co-star Christian Clavier as well as Daniel Cohen's Comme Un Chef for Gaumont.

In 2010, Reno starred in The Round Up, a World War II piece that received critical praise both for the film itself and Reno's dramatic portrayal of a French doctor to Jewish children in Vichy France.

In January 2008, Reno starred in Armored, with Matt Dillon and Laurence Fishburne. Nimrod Anatol directed the suspense thriller for Sony Screen Gems. In November of 2007, Reno wrapped principal photography on Sony's Pink Panther Redeux, reprising his role, Ponton, opposite Steve Martin, Emily Mortimer, John Cleese, Andy Garcia and Alfred Molina. Pink Panther Redeux was released in February 2009. In the winter of 2006, Reno directed his first opera, Puccini's Manon Lescaut for the Teatro Regio in Turin, Italy. That year, Reno was seen on the big screen with James Franco in Tony Bill's World War I epic Flyboys for MGM and heard in DreamWorks' animated feature Flushed Away.

Reno is one of France's most revered and respected actors, having starred opposite Gerard 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. 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 best-selling French novel by Jean-Christophe Grange who also wrote Crimson Rivers, a novel, which 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 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 director by Costa Gavras.
Other international film credits include Richard Berry's 22 Bullets, Francis Verber's Le Jaguar, Christian Le Jale's Loulou Graffiti, Jean-Marie Poire's L'Operaton Corned Beef, Eric Duret's L'Homme Au Masque D'Or, Marco Ferreri's I Love You, Betrand 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, who spoke only his native Spanish for the first eleven years of his life, also speaks fluent French, Italian, English and a fair amount of Japanese. He splits his time between Paris, New York, and Los Angeles.

© 2012 Summit Entertainment