Jean Reno
Highest Rated: 91% Hotel Rwanda (2004)
Lowest Rated: 0% Cold Blood (La mémoire du sang) (2019)
Birthday: Jul 30, 1948
Birthplace: Casablanca, Morocco
With mournful eyes that suggest deep contemplation lurking beneath a sometimes imposing exterior, French actor Jean Reno (born July 30th, 1948) has carved a particular niche in cinema by portraying men who prefer to define themselves through action rather than words. Though his characters may often resort to violence without pause when necessary, that isn't to say that they are without the sort of honor or dignity that has served to define some of the screen's most memorable action stars. Born Juan Moreno Errere y Rimenes in Casablanca, Morocco, the future star spent his early, more carefree days roaming the beaches with friends to escape the searing summer heat. Reno was captivated by the likes of such screen legends as John Wayne, Marlon Brando, and Jean Gabin, who would form the foundation of his screen persona much later in life. An early stint in drama school found Reno exploring his acting abilities, but little did the aspiring talent know that his life would soon take a new and unexpected turn. Though Reno's life to that point had been somewhat idyllic, Morocco's increasing instability forced Reno's family to flee to France to start anew. Unfortunately, his new homeland was in the midst of turbulent civil unrest. In order to gain his citizenship, Reno had to sign up with the national service, and he was quickly recruited into the army. When his superiors noticed that he had previously been to drama school, they placed him in charge of arts and entertainment, and after a year of service, Reno set his sights on Paris. More drama school was soon to follow, and throughout the 1970s, Reno gained experience through stage and television work. After being singled out by critics for memorable appearances in such plays as Costa-Gavras' Clair de Femme (a role that he would later revisit in the 1979 film of the same name) and touring Europe with Didier Flamand's theater troupe, Reno made his screen debut in the 1979 Raúl Ruiz film The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting. Throughout the 1980s, Reno made a name for himself playing screen heavies with little dialogue, and in 1981, things began to look up for the rising star when he teamed with hot young French director Luc Besson for the short film L'Avant Dernier. In the years that followed, Reno and Besson not only became close personal friends, but Reno would also appear in almost every one of the director's films. With small parts in Le Dernier Combat (1983) and Subway slowly elevating his star status, it was only a matter of time until Reno landed his breakout role. Of course, it came as no surprise to many that that particular role was in one of Besson's films, and with the release of Besson's Le Grand Bleu in 1988, Reno's time finally came. Cast as the comic rival of diver Jacques Mayhol (Jean-Marc Barr), Reno received international exposure when the film became a worldwide hit with both critics and audiences. In his home country of France, Reno was even nominated for a Best Supporting Actor César. He took a somewhat darker turn two years later when he was cast as a taciturn hit man in Besson's art-house action hit Nikita. By the time Reno took the lead in the 1993 time travel comedy Les Visiteurs (which quickly became the most successful film in French box-office history), he had truly established himself as a lucrative box-office draw. Though the film was indeed a massive success in France, it was deemed "too French" for U.S. distribution, and only the most die-hard fans and critics outside of Reno's native country were truly aware of his star power. If Reno's rise in France had been successfully boosted thanks, in part, to old friend Besson, so would his international exposure thanks to Besson's masterful 1994 effort Léon (released stateside as The Professional). With Reno once again cast in the role of a hit man, Léon told the remarkably tender tale of a sympathetic killer who befriends a young orphan named Mathilda (memorably portrayed by screen newcomer Natalie Portman) aft
Photos
Highest Rated Movies
Filmography
Movies
| Credit | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Score Yet | Waiting for Anya | Actor | — | 2020 |
| No Score Yet | Waiting for Anya | Actor | — | 2020 |
| 0% | Cold Blood (La mémoire du sang) | Actor | — | 2019 |
| 57% | 4 latas | Jean Pierre | — | 2019 |
| No Score Yet | Brothers of the Wind | Danzer | — | 2018 |
| 14% | The Adventurers | Pierre | $0.3M | 2017 |
| 8% | The Last Face | Dr. Love | — | 2017 |
| 50% | The Promise | Admiral Fournet | $8.2M | 2017 |
| No Score Yet | Family Heist (Mes trésors) | Patrick | — | 2017 |
| 86% | La ragazza nella nebbia | Actor | — | 2017 |
| 50% | The Sweeney - Paris (Antigang) | Actor | — | 2015 |
| 0% | Days and Nights | Louis | $6.5K | 2014 |
| 37% | Hector And The Search For Happiness | Diego | — | 2014 |
| 47% | Comme un chef (Le Chef) | Alexandre Lagarde | $0.4M | 2014 |
| No Score Yet | Avis De Mistral | Paul | — | 2014 |
| No Score Yet | Paris-story | Actor | — | 2014 |
| No Score Yet | Summer In Provence (Un Ete En Provence) | Actor | — | 2014 |
| No Score Yet | Benoît Brisefer: Les taxis rouges | Actor | — | 2014 |
| 42% | 22 Bullets | Charly Matteï | — | 2013 |
| 11% | Alex Cross | Giles Mercier | $25.9M | 2012 |
| 56% | La Rafle | Dr. David Scheinbaum | $0.3M | 2012 |
| No Score Yet | Le jour des corneilles | Actor | — | 2012 |
| 73% | Margaret | Ramon | $47K | 2011 |
| No Score Yet | You Don't Choose Your Family | Actor | — | 2011 |
| No Score Yet | The Philosopher | Actor | — | 2010 |
| 40% | Armored | Quinn | $16M | 2009 |
| 10% | Couples Retreat | Marcel | $109.2M | 2009 |
| No Score Yet | Ultimate Heist (Le premier cercle) | Milo Malakian | — | 2009 |
| 12% | Pink Panther 2 | Ponton | $36M | 2009 |
| No Score Yet | Ca$h (Cash) | Maxime | — | 2008 |
| 21% | La tigre e la neve (The Tiger and the Snow) | Fuad | — | 2006 |
| 73% | Flushed Away | Le Frog | $64.5M | 2006 |
| 33% | Flyboys | Capt. Thenault | $13.1M | 2006 |
| 25% | The Da Vinci Code | Capt. Bezu Fache | $217.6M | 2006 |
| No Score Yet | Shut Up! (Tais Toi) | Actor | — | 2006 |
| 9% | Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo | Actor | $22.3M | 2005 |
| No Score Yet | Empire of the Wolves | Jean-Louis Schiffer | — | 2005 |
| No Score Yet | The Corsican Investigation (L'Enquete corse) | Actor | — | 2005 |
| 91% | Hotel Rwanda | Mr. Tillens | $23.5M | 2004 |
| No Score Yet | The Corsican File | Ange | — | 2004 |
| No Score Yet | L'Enquête Corse | Actor | — | 2004 |
| No Score Yet | Tais-Toi | Ruby | — | 2004 |
| No Score Yet | Les rivières pourpres II : Les anges de l'apocalypse | Commissaire Niemans | — | 2004 |
| 57% | Jet Lag | Felix | $0.5M | 2003 |
| 3% | Rollerball | Petrovich | $18.9M | 2002 |
| 43% | Wasabi | Hubert Fiorentini | — | 2001 |
| 68% | The Crimson Rivers | Pierre Niemans | — | 2001 |
| 33% | Just Visiting | Count Thibault | — | 2001 |
| 68% | Ronin | Vincent | — | 1998 |
| 16% | Godzilla | Philippe Roache | — | 1998 |
| No Score Yet | Les couloirs du temps: Les visiteurs 2 | Godefroy de Montmirail | — | 1998 |
| 38% | For Roseanna | Marcello | — | 1997 |
| 63% | Mission: Impossible | Krieger | — | 1996 |
| No Score Yet | Le Jaguar | Jean Campana | — | 1996 |
| 67% | Beyond the Clouds | Carlo | — | 1995 |
| 48% | French Kiss | Jean-Paul | — | 1995 |
| No Score Yet | Truffes, Les | Patrick | — | 1995 |
| 73% | Léon: The Professional | Leon | — | 1994 |
| 31% | Les Visiteurs (The Visitors ) | Godefroy | — | 1993 |
| No Score Yet | L'Homme au masque d'or (The Man in the Golden Mask) | Father Victor Gaetano | — | 1991 |
| 88% | La Femme Nikita (Nikita) | Victor | — | 1990 |
| 62% | The Big Blue | Enzo Molinari | $81.3K | 1988 |
| No Score Yet | I Love You | Dentist | — | 1986 |
| 75% | Subway | The Drummer | — | 1985 |
| No Score Yet | Strictement Personnel | Actor | — | 1985 |
| No Score Yet | Notre histoire (Our Story)(Separate Rooms) | Actor | — | 1984 |
| 60% | Le Dernier Combat (The Last Battle) (The Last Combat) | The Brute | — | 1983 |
| No Score Yet | La passante du Sans-Souci (The Passerby) | Actor | — | 1982 |
| No Score Yet | Clair de Femme | Actor | — | 1979 |
| No Score Yet | L'Hypothèse du tableau volé (The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting) | Actor | — | 1979 |
TV
| Credit | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No Score Yet |
Série noire 1984-1988 |
QUOTES FROM Jean Reno CHARACTERS
Mathilda says: Is life always this hard, or is it just when you're a kid?
Leon says: Always like this
Rose says: We're both miserable. We have nothing in common.
Felix says: We do, We're both miserable.
Felix says: We do. We're both miserable.
Rose says: Do you know what cowardice is? Not daring to have a child on one's own.
Felix says: I think it's not daring to have a child together.
Felix says: I'd done something great and it drove him nuts.
Inspector Jacques Clouseau says: What?
Gilbert Ponton says: Nothing.
Inspector Jacques Clouseau says: You mean you didn't just say, "AAAHHHHHHH"?
Inspector Jacques Clouseau says: You mean you didn't just say, 'AAAHHHHHHH'?
Philippe Roache says: Elvis Presley movies. He was the King.
Philippe Roache says: Bleh! You call this coffee?
Captain Bezu Fache says: Robert Langdon is guilty.
Charlie Matteï says: "Friends until after death."
Charlie Matteï says: Friends until after death.
Leon says: Never in the face, If they can not recognize the client, you don't get paid. Cause you could take anybody and said you did the job. Got it?
Mathilda says: Got it. Never in the face
Mathilda says: Got it. Never in the face.
Leon says: Hey What about the ring trick?
Leon says: This is for Matilda.......
Leon says: This is for Matilda...
Stansfield says: Oh....shit!
Stansfield says: Oh...shit!
Vincent says: What would I profit from your death?
Le Frog says: Ahhh. The English little girly. She's so aggressive.
Le Frog says: Ah. The English little girly. She's so aggressive.
Leon says: And stop saying "okay" all the time. Okay?
Leon says: And stop saying 'okay' all the time. Okay?
Mathilda says: Okay.
Leon says: Léon: Good.
Leon says: Good.
Inspector Jacques Clouseau says: What? What did you say?
Gilbert Ponton says: Nothing.
Inspector Jacques Clouseau says: You mean, you didn't just say: Stop the car, dear God, I beg of you, stop the car?
Inspector Jacques Clouseau says: You mean, you didn't just say: 'Stop the car, dear God, I beg of you, stop the car'?
Krieger says: If we're going to Virginia why don't we drop by Fort Knox? I could fly a helicopter through the lobby and set it down right inside the vault. And it would be a hell of a lot easier than breaking into the goddamn CIA.
Mathilda says: "Is life always this hard, or is it just when you're a kid?"
Mathilda says: Is life always this hard, or is it just when you're a kid?
Leon says: "Always"
Leon says: Always.
Leon says: When it's tough like this, you know it's gonna be ugly. Better make it quick, or else you will be here all day listening to his crap.
Mathilda says: I don't wanna lose you, Leon.
Leon says: You're not going to lose me. You've given me a taste for life. I wanna be happy. Sleep in a bed, have roots. And you'll never be alone again, Mathilda.
Leon says: Revenge is not good. Once you're done. Believe me
Leon says: Revenge is not good. Once you're done. Believe me.
Leon says: No women, no kids, that's the rules.
Mathilda says: Is life always this hard, or is it just when you're a kid?
Leon says: Always like this