Vincent Cassel Biography

Vincent Cassel (born Vincent Crochon, 23 November 1966) is a Cesar Award-winning French actor best known to English-speaking audiences through his film performances in Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen, as well as Black Swan. Cassel is also renowned for playing the infamous French bank-robber and folk hero, Jacques Mesrine in Mesrine: Killer Instinct and Mesrine: Public Enemy Number One.

Early life and family

Cassel was born Vincent Crochon in Paris, France, to Sabine Litique, and French actor Jean-Pierre Cassel (born Jean-Pierre Crochon). Cassel's brother, Mathias, is a rapper with the group Assassin under the name "Rockin' Squat". His half-sister, Cécile Cassel, is an actress.

Career

Cassel's breakthrough role was in Mathieu Kassovitz's critically acclaimed film La Haine where he played a troubled youth from the deprived outskirts of Paris. He has gone on to act in a variety of films such as the moody L'Appartement (with Monica Bellucci before they married), the violent Dobermann, the genre-bending Le Pacte des Loups (in English, Brotherhood of the Wolf), and the highly controversial Irréversible, where he appears fully nude (with Monica Bellucci after they married).

Cassel has also done a number of English-language films, such as Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen, Derailed, Birthday Girl, The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, Elizabeth, Eastern Promises, and Shrek (as the voice of Monsieur Hood), and in the Portuguese-language, Brazilian film Adrift (À Deriva). In 2006, he appeared in Sheitan, in which he played a shepherd who carries out satanic rituals. In 2008, he appeared in two movies about Jacques Mesrine, who was France's "public enemy number one" in the seventies. Cassel received the 2009 Cesar award for best actor for his performance in Mesrine directed by Jean-Francois Richet.

An early appearance on British television was as Nicole's boyfriend in the 1994 Renault Clio advert which was used in the UK.

In October 2008, Cassel was signed to be the face of a new Yves Saint Laurent men's fragrance. The new fragrance, La Nuit de l'Homme, was launched worldwide in March 2009.

French film historian Tim Palmer describes Cassel as one of the most charismatic and idiosyncratic of all France's contemporary stars, working in both popular and more intellectual modes of cinema, typically playing characters that veer unpredictably between positive/alluring and negative/grotesque"?often, in fact, within a single role and performance.

In 2009, he made his debut as a singer on Zap Mama's album ReCreation, singing alongside them on the singles "Paroles, Paroles" and "Non, Non, Non."

He played Thomas Leroy in Darren Aronofsky's critically acclaimed Black Swan (2010), alongside Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis.

Personal life

Cassel met Italian actress Monica Bellucci on the set of their 1996 film The Apartment. They married in 1999, and have two daughters, Deva (born 12 September 2004) and Léonie (born 21 May 2010). Cassel and Bellucci announced their separation in August 2013.

Cassel has a passion for Capoeira and displayed his talent in the movie Ocean's Twelve.

Besides his native French, Cassel speaks English, Portuguese, Italian and basic conversational Russian which he learned for his role in Eastern Promises. Since 2011, Vincent Cassel publicly supports the chief Raoni in its fight against the Belo Monte dam. This is the first time in his career he agreed to publicly support a cause. Since 2012, Cassel lives with his family in Rio de Janeiro.

Filmography

Title	Year	Role	Notes
Métisse	1993	Max
La Haine	1995	Vinz	Nominated " César Award for Best Actor Nominated " César Award for Most Promising Actor
Jefferson in Paris	1995	Camille Desmoulins
L'élève	1996	Julien
L'Appartement	1996	Max
Dobermann	1997	Yann le Pentrec (Dobermann)
Come mi vuoi	1997	Pasquale
Elizabeth	1998	Duc d'Anjou
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc	1999	Gilles de Rais
Guest House Paradiso	1999	Gino Bolognese
Crimson Rivers	2000	Max Kerkerian
Brotherhood of the Wolf	2001	Jean-François de Morangias
Shrek	2001	Monsieur Hood	Voice only
Birthday Girl	2001	Alexei
Sur mes lèvres	2001	Paul
Ice Age	2002	Diego	Voice only (French-language version)
Irréversible	2002	Marcus	Also Co-Producer
The Reckoning	2003	Lord De Guise
Blueberry	2004	Mike S. Blueberry
Agents Secrets	2004	Brisseau
Ocean's Twelve	2004	François Toulour
Derailed	2005	LaRoche
Sheitan	2006	Joseph	Also Producer
Ocean's Thirteen	2007	François Toulour
Eastern Promises	2007	Kirill
Sa Majesté Minor	2007	Satyre
Mesrine	2008	Jacques Mesrine	César Award for Best Actor Lumiere Award for Best Actor "?toiles d'Or Award for Best Actor Tokyo International Film Festival Award for Best Actor Nominated " Chlotrudis Award for Best Actor
Lascars	2009	Tony Merguez	Voice only
Adrift (À Deriva)	2009	Matias
Our Day Will Come	2010	Patrick	Also Producer
Black Swan	2010	Thomas Leroy	Nominated " Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
The Monk	2011	Capucino Ambrosio
A Dangerous Method	2011	Otto Gross
Trance	2013	Franck