Jean Reno

Jean Reno
Jean Reno in 2012
Born	Juan Moreno y Herrera-Jiménez (1948-07-30) 30 July 1948 Casablanca, Morocco
Nationality	French
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1977–present
Spouse(s)	Genevieve Reno (m. 1977–95) Nathalie Dyszkiewicz (m. 1996–2001) Zofia Borucka (m. 2006)
Children	6

Juan Moreno y Herrera-Jiménez (born 30 July 1948), known as Jean Reno (French pronunciation: ​[ʒɑ̃ ʁeno]), is a Moroccan-born French actor of Spanish descent. Working in French, English, Japanese, Spanish, and Italian, he has appeared in numerous successful films such as Crimson Rivers, Godzilla, The Da Vinci Code, Mission: Impossible, The Pink Panther, Ronin, Les visiteurs, The Big Blue, and Léon.

Early life

Reno was born Juan Moreno y Herrera-Jiménez in Casablanca, Morocco. His parents were Spanish, natives of Sanlúcar de Barrameda and Jerez de la Frontera in Andalucia, and had moved to North Africa to find work and escape the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. He has a younger sister named María Teresa ("Maite"), and the children were raised Catholic. Their father was a linotypist. Their mother died when Juan was a teenager. He learned Spanish from his parents, and Arabic and French growing up in Morocco.

At the age of seventeen, Juan Moreno moved to France, where he studied acting in the Cours Simon School of Drama.

When Moreno moved to France he served in the French Army which was mandatory to gain his French citizenship.

Career

After he started to get acting jobs in France, Juan adopted the French version, Jean, of his name, 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 (1985). 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: 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 in the American film.

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). Reno turned down the role of Agent Smith in The Matrix. He also acted in French productions —e.g., 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 remake of The Pink Panther and its sequel, 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.

Personal life

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

Reno first married Geneviève, with whom he has a daughter, Sandra (born 1978), and a son, Mickael (born 1980). Reno's second wife was Nathalie Dyszkiewicz, a Polish model, with whom he has a son, Tom (born 10 January 1996), and a daughter, Serena (born 28 June 1998).

On 29 July 2006, Reno married for the third time, to another Polish model and actress, Zofia Borucka, 35, at the city hall of Baux-de-Provence in southern France. Then-presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy served as his best man (Reno endorsed Sarkozy for the 2007 French presidential election). Zofia and Reno welcomed their first son Cielo born in July 2009 in New York City. Their second son Dean was born in September 2011. Reno maintains homes in Paris, Malaysia, and Los Angeles.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1979	The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting
1979	Womanlight	Traffic policeman
1980	The Moroccan Stallion
1982	La Passante du Sans-Souci
1983	Signes extérieurs de richesse	Marc Letellier
1983	Le Dernier Combat
1985	Le téléphone sonne toujours deux fois!!	Marraine's confidence man
1985	Subway	The Drummer
1988	Le Grand Bleu	Enzo Molinari	aka The Big Blue Nominated – César Award for Best Supporting Actor
1990	fr	Father Victorio Gaetano
1990	Nikita	Victor, cleaner
1991	Loulou Graffiti	Pique la Lune
1991	L'Opération Corned-Beef	Captain Philippe Boulier
1992	Porco Rosso	Porco Rosso	Voice acting for the French dub
1993	La Vis	Monsieur K
1993	Paranoïa		Short Subject
1993	Flight from Justice	Charlie Bert	TV
1993	Les Visiteurs	Godefroy de Papincourt, Comte de Montmirail	Nominated – César Award for Best Actor
1994	Léon: The Professional	Leone "Léon" Montana	Nominated – César Award for Best Actor
1995	Les Truffes	Patrick
1995	French Kiss	Inspector Jean-Paul Cardon
1995	Al di là delle nuvole	Carlo
1996	Mission: Impossible	Franz Krieger
1996	Le Jaguar	Jean Campana
1997	Roseanna's Grave	Marcello
1997	Un amour de sorcière	Molok
1997	Les Soeurs Soleil	Un spectateur
1998	Les Visiteurs II: Les Couloirs du temps	Comte Godefroy de Montmirail, dit Godefroy
1998	Godzilla	Philippe Roaché
1998	Ronin	Vincent
2000	Les Rivières pourpres	Pierre Niemans	aka Crimson Rivers Nominated – European Film Award: Jameson People's Choice Award - Best European Actor
2001	Just Visiting	Count Thibault of Malfete
2001	Wasabi	Hubert Fiorentini
2002	Décalage horaire	Felix
2002	Rollerball	Alexis Petrovich
2003	Tais-toi!	Ruby
2004	Onimusha 3: Demon Siege	Jacques Blanc (voice and likeness)	Video game
2004	Crimson Rivers II: Angels of the Apocalypse	Commissaire Niemans
2004	Hotel Rwanda	Mr. Tillens	Uncredited
2004	L'Enquête Corse	Ange Leoni
2005	L'Empire des loups	Jean-Louis Schiffer	aka Empire of the Wolves
2005	The Tiger and the Snow	Fuad
2006	The Pink Panther	Gilbert Ponton
2006	Flyboys	Captain Thenault
2006	The Da Vinci Code	Captain Bezu Fache
2006	Flushed Away	Le Frog (voice)
2008	Ca$h	Maxime - Dubreuil
2009	The Pink Panther 2	Gilbert Ponton
2009	Le Premier Cercle	Milo Malakian
2009	Couples Retreat	Marcel
2009	Armored	Quinn
2010	The Round Up	Dr. Sheinbaum
2010	The Philosopher	Baggio
2010	L'immortel	Charly Matteï	aka 22 Bullets
2011	On ne choisit pas sa famille (film)	You Don't Choose Your Family
2011	Margaret	Ramon
2012	Alex Cross	Giles Mercier
2012	The Chef	Alexandre Lagarde
2012	Le Jour des Corneilles	Le père Courge
2013	Jo	Joseph "Jo" St-Clair	TV series (8 Episodes)
2013	Days and Nights	Louis
2014	Avis de mistral	Paul
2014	Hector and the Search for Happiness	Diego
2014	fr	Poilonez
2015	The Squad	Serge Buren
2015	Brothers of the Wind	Danzer
2016	The Last Face
2016	La Terreur: Les Visiteurs III	Comte Godefroy de Montmirail
2016	The Promise
2017	Mes trésors	Patrick

External links

• Jean Reno at the Internet Movie Database
• Jean Reno: Cannes, Codes, and... Bouillabaisse (MPM interview)
• Couples Retreat Video Interview at AMCtv.com