Jean Reno

French actor (born 1948)

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is  Moreno and the second or maternal family name is  Herrera-Jiménez.

Jean Reno

Reno at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival

Born|

Juan Moreno y Herrera-Jiménez

(1948-07-30) 30 July 1948 (age 76)

Casablanca, French Morocco

Citizenship|

* France
* Spain

Occupation| Actor
Years active| 1977–present
Spouses|

* Geneviève Reno

(m. 1977; div. 1995)​

* Nathalie Dyszkiewicz

(m. 1996; div. 2001)​

* Zofia Borucka

(m. 2006)​

Children| 6
Signature

Juan Moreno y Herrera-Jiménez (born 30 July 1948), commonly known as Jean Reno (French: [ʒɑ̃ ʁeno]), is a French-Spanish actor. He established himself as a leading man of French cinema through his collaborations with director Luc Besson, and has worked in numerous international productions. He is a three-time César Award nominee - Best Actor for Les Visiteurs (1993) and Léon: The Professional (1994), and Best Supporting Actor for The Big Blue (1988).

Reno's other notable films include Le Dernier Combat (1983), La Femme Nikita (1990), Mission: Impossible (1996), Ronin (1998), Godzilla (1998), Crimson Rivers (2000), Wasabi (2001), The Pink Panther (2006), The Da Vinci Code (2006), Flushed Away (2006), Hector and the Search for Happiness (2014), The Promise (2016), and Da 5 Bloods (2020).

## Early life

[edit]

Reno was born Juan Moreno y Herrera-Jiménez, on 30 July 1948 in Casablanca, French Morocco.[1] His parents were Spanish, natives of Sanlúcar de Barrameda and Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia. They had moved to North Africa to find work and escape Francoist Spain. [citation needed] Reno has a younger sister named María Teresa ("Maite"); the children were raised Catholic.[2] Their father was a linotypist.[3] Their mother died when he was a teenager.[2]

At the age of 17, Reno and his family moved to France, where he studied acting at the Cours Simon School of Drama in Paris.[4] Reno also served in the French Army, as his military service became mandatory once his family had gained French citizenship.

Reno learned Spanish from his parents, Arabic and French growing up in Morocco, and Italian from studying it as a special interest and acting in Italian films.[5]

## Career

[edit]

Jean Reno and Juliette Binoche at Cannes Film Festival in 2002

After he started to get acting jobs in France, Juan adopted the French version of his name, Jean, and shortened his surname to Reno. Due to his large frame (1.88 m or 6 ft 2 in), Reno was called on to play "heavies" in his early career. He later appeared in romantic comedies and action films. He began his film career in France, appearing in many films by director Luc Besson, including his early Le Dernier Combat (1983). The two have continued to work together, collaborating in films produced, written, or directed by Besson. Of their joint work, those that have achieved the most critical and commercial success include: La Femme Nikita (1990), and the English-language films The Big Blue (1988) and Léon: The Professional (1994).

Reno did the voice-over for Mufasa in the French-language version of The Lion King, a role originally performed in English by James Earl Jones. 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) with Matthew Broderick. Reno turned down the role of Agent Smith in The Matrix. He also acted in French productions: Les Visiteurs (1993) (which was remade in English as Just Visiting in 2001); The Crimson Rivers (2000), and Jet Lag (Décalage Horaire) by Danièle Thompson (2002), which was also a box-office success in France.

In 2006, Reno had a prominent role in The Pink Panther 2006 remake and its sequel The Pink Panther 2, playing Gilbert Ponton, opposite Steve Martin as Inspector Clouseau. He portrayed Captain Bezu Fache in the Ron Howard film The Da Vinci Code. Among his most successful films are Les Visiteurs and L'Enquète corse.

In other media, Reno was involved in the production of the third installment in the popular Capcom series Onimusha (Onimusha 3: Demon Siege), lending his likeness to the protagonist Jacques Blanc, as well as providing the voice for the character's French dialogue. In advertising work, Reno has appeared in American television commercials for UPS and portrayed Doraemon in a series of Toyota ads in Japan, as part of the "ReBorn" campaign.[6] He also starred as Jo in the 2013 English-language TV series Jo.

In 2024, Reno released his first novel, Emma.[7]

## Personal life

[edit]

Reno with his wife Zofia Borucka at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival

Reno married his first wife, Geneviève, in 1977; they divorced in 1988. Reno married his second wife, Polish model Nathalie Dyszkiewicz, in 1995. They divorced in 2001. On 29 July 2006, Reno married for the third time, to a British model and actress of Polish descent, Zofia Borucka, at the Les Baux-de-Provence city hall.[8] The presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy served as his best man (Reno endorsed Sarkozy for the 2007 French presidential election).[9][10] Reno has six children, two from each marriage.[11]

Reno maintains three homes in Paris, Malaysia, and Los Angeles.[12] He is a dual citizen of France and Spain.[13] In a 2016 interview, Reno stated "his roots are above all Spanish, Andalusian."[13]

## Stage credits

[edit]

* Prends bien garde aux zeppelins (1977)
* Ecce Homo (1978)
* Celimare le bien-aimé (1978)
* Je romps et ne plie pas (1979)
* Société Un (1979)
* La Manufacture (1981)
* Terre étrangère (1984)
* Andromaque (1989)
* Montserrat (1991)
* Les Grandes Occasions (2006)
* Nos femmes (2015)

## Filmography

[edit]

### Film

[edit]

Year | Title | Role | Notes

|
|
|

1978 | The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting | Tableaux Personnel |
1979 | Womanlight | Traffic policeman |
1980 | The Moroccan Stallion |  |
1982 | The Passerby | Angry Man |
1983 | Signes extérieurs de richesse | Marc Letellier |
Le Dernier Combat | The Brute |
1985 | Le téléphone sonne toujours deux fois!! | Conman |
Subway | The Drummer |
1986 | I Love You | The dentist |
1988 | The Big Blue | Enzo Molinari |
1990 | La Femme Nikita | Victor, cleaner |
1991 | L'Homme au masque d'or | Father Victorio Gaetano |
Loulou Graffiti | Pique la Lune |
L'Opération Corned-Beef | Captain Philippe Boulier |
1992 | Porco Rosso | Marco "Porco Rosso" Pagot (voice) | French dub
1993 | Les Visiteurs | Godefroy de Papincourt, Comte de Montmirail |
La Vis | Monsieur K |
Paranoïa |  | Short subject
Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey | Shadow (voice) | French dub
1994 | The Lion King | Mufasa (voice)
Léon: The Professional | Leone "Léon" Montana  |
1995 | Les Truffes | Patrick |
French Kiss | Inspector Jean-Paul Cardon |
Al di là delle nuvole | Carlo |
1996 | Mission: Impossible | Franz Krieger |
Le Jaguar | Jean Campana |
1997 | Roseanna's Grave | Marcello |
Un amour de sorcière | Molok |
Les Sœurs Soleil | Spectator |
1998 | Les Visiteurs II: Les Couloirs du temps | Comte Godefroy de Montmirail, dit Godefroy |
Godzilla | Philippe Roaché |
Ronin | Vincent |
1999 | The Book That Wrote Itself | Himself |
2000 | Crimson Rivers | Pierre Niemans |
2001 | Just Visiting | Count Thibault of Malfete |
Atlantis: The Lost Empire | Vincenzo "Vinny" Saltorini (voice) | French dub
Wasabi | Hubert Fiorentini |
2002 | Décalage horaire | Felix |
Rollerball | Alexis Petrovich |
2003 | Tais-toi! | Ruby |
2004 | Crimson Rivers II: Angels of the Apocalypse | Commissaire Niemans |
Hotel Rwanda | Mr. Tillens | Uncredited
The Corsican Files | Ange Leoni |
2005 | L'Empire des loups | Jean-Louis Schiffer |
The Tiger and the Snow | Fuad |
2006 | The Pink Panther | Gilbert Ponton |
Flyboys | Captain Thenault |
The Da Vinci Code | Captain Bezu Fache |
Flushed Away | Le Frog (voice) | Also French dub
2008 | Ca$h | Maxime - Dubreuil |
2009 | The Pink Panther 2 | Gilbert Ponton |
Le Premier Cercle | Milo Malakian |
Couples Retreat | Marcel |
Armored | Quinn |
2010 | The Round Up | Dr. Sheinbaum |
The Philosopher | Baggio |
22 Bullets | Charly Matteï |
2011 | Zookeeper | Bernie the Gorilla (voice) | French dub
You Don't Choose Your Family | Docteur Luix |
Margaret | Ramon |
2012 | Alex Cross | Giles Mercier |
The Chef | Alexandre Lagarde |
Le Jour des Corneilles | Le père Courge |
2013 | Days and Nights | Louis |
2014 | My Summer in Provence | Paul |
Hector and the Search for Happiness | Dr. Diego Baresco |
Benoît Brisefer : Les Taxis rouges [fr] | Poilonez |
2015 | The Squad | Serge Buren |
Brothers of the Wind | Danzer |
2016 | The Last Face | Dr. Mehmet Love |
The Visitors: Bastille Day | Comte Godefroy de Montmirail |
The Promise | Admiral Louis Dartige Fournet |
2017 | Mes trésors | Patrick |
The Girl in the Fog | Augusto Flores |
The Adventurers | Pierre |
2019 | 4 Latas | Jean Pierre |
Cold Blood | Henry |
The Lion King | Mufasa (voice) | French dub
Polina and the Mystery of a Film Studio | Screen Hologram |
2020 | Waiting for Anya | Henri |
Da 5 Bloods | Desroche |
Rogue City | Ange Leonetti |
The Doorman | Victor Dubois |
2021 | Promises | Grandpa |
2024 | Lift | Lars Jorgenson |
My Penguin Friend | João |
Family Pack | Gilbert Vassier |
TBA | Tuner |  | Filming

### Television

[edit]

Year | Title | Role | Notes

|
|
|

1993 | Flight from Justice | Charlie Bert | TV movie
2013 | Jo | Joachim "Jo" St-Clair | 8 episodes
2021 | Who Killed Sara? | Reinaldo Gómez de la Cortina | 7 episodes
2022 | A Private Affair | Héctor Hugo | 8 episodes

### Video games

[edit]

Year | Title | Role | Notes

|
|
|

2004 | Onimusha 3: Demon Siege | Jacques Blanc | Voice and likeness

## Awards and nominations

[edit]

Institution | Year | Category | Work  | Result

|
|
|
|

César Award | 1989 | Best Supporting Actor | The Big Blue | Nominated
1994 | Best Actor | Les Visiteurs | Nominated
1995 | Léon: The Professional | Nominated
European Film Award | 2000 | Outstanding European Achievement in World Cinema | —  | Honored
Giffoni Film Festival | 2012  | François Truffaut Award  | —  | Honored
Screen Actors Guild Award | 2021 | Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | Da 5 Bloods | Nominated

## Honours

[edit]

* 2003  Officer of the National Order of Merit[14]
* 2007  Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters[15]
* 2015  Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts[16]
* 2024  Commander of the Legion of Honor[17]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Jean Reno - scheda attore". Film.it (in Italian). Archived from the original on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
2. ^ a b Dawson, Angela (10 May 2006). "Jean Reno cracks the 'Code'". AllBusiness.com. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
3. ^ Jamieson, Teddy (30 August 2010). "Jean Reno on 22 Bullets". Herald Scotland. Herald & Times Group. Archived from the original on 5 September 2010. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
4. ^ "Jean Reno Biography". Yahoo! Movies. Yahoo. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
5. ^ "Jean Reno tra "A Private Affair" e l'amore per l'Italia". YouTube: Il Messaggero. 2022. Archived from the original on 29 December 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
6. ^ Loo, Egan (18 November 2011). "Film star Jean Reno's live-action Doraemon ad streamed". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 7 December 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
7. ^ "Emma". xoeditions.com (in French). Retrieved 30 December 2024.
8. ^ "Da Vinci Code Actor Jean Reno Weds". People.com. Time Inc. 30 July 2006. Archived from the original on 27 August 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
9. ^ Melillo, Wendy (4 June 2007). "What the French Taught Us". Ad Week. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on 28 November 2007. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
10. ^ "Les Acteurs qui soutiennent des candidates: Jean Reno - Nicolas Sarkozy". Linternaute (in French). 2007. Archived from the original on 4 October 2010. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
11. ^ "Jean Reno papa de Sandra, Michael, Tom, Serena, Cielo et Dean : Qui sont ses 6 enfants ?".
12. ^ "Jean Reno Trivia: 26 amazing facts about the French actor! (List)". www.uselessdaily.com. Archived from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
13. ^ a b "Jean Reno ne croit pas à l'intégration des musulmans en France". parismatch.com (in French). 7 June 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
14. ^ Décret du 14 mai 2003 portant promotion et nomination, retrieved 30 December 2024
15. ^ "Nominations dans l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres - Cinquantenaire de l'ordre - 2008". www2.culture.gouv.fr. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
16. ^ "BOE-A-2015-14323 Real Decreto 1179/2015, de 29 de diciembre, por el que se concede la Medalla al Mérito en las Bellas Artes, en su categoría de oro, a las personas y entidades que se relacionan". www.boe.es. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
17. ^ Décret du 3 juillet 2024 portant promotion dans l'ordre national de la Légion d'honneur, retrieved 30 December 2024

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jean Reno.

* Jean Reno at IMDb
* Jean Reno: Cannes, Codes, and... Bouillabaisse (MPM interview)
* Couples Retreat Video Interview at AMCtv.com

* v
* t
* e

European Film Academy Achievement in World Cinema Award

* Miloš Forman (1997)
* Stellan Skarsgård (1998)
* Antonio Banderas (1999)
* Roman Polanski (1999)
* Jean Reno (2000)
* Roberto Benigni (2000)
* Ewan McGregor (2001)
* Victoria Abril (2002)
* Carlo Di Palma (2003)
* Liv Ullmann (2004)
* Maurice Jarre (2005)
* Jeremy Thomas (2006)
* Michael Ballhaus (2007)
* Søren Kragh-Jacobsen (2008)
* Kristian Levring (2008)
* Lars von Trier (2008)
* Thomas Vinterberg (2008)
* Isabelle Huppert (2009)
* Gabriel Yared (2010)
* Mads Mikkelsen (2011)
* Helen Mirren (2012)
* Pedro Almodóvar (2013)
* Steve McQueen (2014)
* Christoph Waltz (2015)
* Pierce Brosnan (2016)
* Julie Delpy (2017)
* Ralph Fiennes (2018)
* Juliette Binoche (2019)
* Susanne Bier (2021)
* Elia Suleiman (2022)
* Isabel Coixet (2023)
* Isabella Rossellini (2024)

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