Vincent Cassel
Vincent Cassel | |
---|---|
Cassel in 2011 | |
Born |
Vincent Crochon 23 November 1966 Paris, France |
Residence | [Roubaix], France |
Occupation |
|
Years active | 1987–present |
Spouse(s) |
Tina Kunakey (m. 2018) |
Children | 2 |
Parent(s) |
Mamadou Cassel Sabine Litique |
Relatives |
Mathias Crochon (brother) Cécile Cassel (half-sister) |
Vincent Cassel (French: [vɛ̃sɑ̃ kasɛl]; born Vincent Crochon, 23 November 1966) is a French actor. He became well known in France via his role as Vinz, a troubled French Jewish youth, in Matthieu Kassovitz's 1995 film La Haine (Hate), which gave him 2 César Award nominations. He is known to English-speaking audiences for his performances in Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen, as well as Eastern Promises, Black Swan and Jason Bourne. Cassel is also renowned for playing the infamous French bank-robber Jacques Mesrine in Mesrine: Killer Instinct and Mesrine: Public Enemy Number One.
Early life and family
Cassel was born in Paris, France, to journalist Sabine Litique and actor Jean-Pierre Cassel (born Jean-Pierre Crochon).[1][2] Cassel's brother, Mathias, is a rapper with the group Assassin under the name "Rockin' Squat".[3] His half-sister, Cécile Cassel, is an actress.[4]
Career
Cassel's breakthrough role was in Mathieu Kassovitz's critically acclaimed film La Haine (1995) where he played a troubled youth from the deprived outskirts of Paris. For his role in La Haine, Cassel was nominated for two César Awards, for Best Actor and Most Promising Actor.[5] The following year, he starred opposite Monica Bellucci (before they married) in the moody film L'Appartement.[3]
Following this, he starred in a string of French films, including the violent film Dobermann (1997), the genre-bending Le Pacte des Loups (2001), and the highly controversial Irréversible (2002), where he appears fully nude (with Monica Bellucci, after they married).
Since the early 2000s, Cassel has also appeared in 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.[3] 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.[3]
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.[6]
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". The following year, he played Thomas Leroy in Darren Aronofsky's critically acclaimed Black Swan (2010), alongside Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis, which attracted considerable acclaim.
In 2016, he starred in Xavier Dolan's It's Only the End of the World, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. For his work in the film, Cassel won the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role;[7] he also received nominations for the César Award for Best Supporting Actor, Globes de Cristal Award for Best Actor, and the Jury Prize for Best Actor - Riviera International Film Festival.[8]
Personal life
Cassel met Italian actress Monica Bellucci on the set of their 1996 film The Apartment.[9] They married in 1999,[9] and have two daughters, Deva (born 12 September 2004)[10] and Léonie (born 21 May 2010).[11] Cassel and Bellucci announced their divorce on 26 August 2013.[9]
Cassel married French model Tina Kunakey on 24 August 2018 in Bidart, France.[12]
Besides his native French, Cassel speaks English, Portuguese, Italian, and basic conversational Russian, which he learned for his role in Eastern Promises.[13] Since 2013, Cassel lives in Rio de Janeiro, initially in Arpoador (with ex-wife Monica Bellucci), and in Morro do Vidigal after their divorce. He is known for having a great identification with Brazil, being a practitioner of the martial art of capoeira; he displayed this talent in the movie Ocean's Twelve.[14] He also trains in wing chun.
Filmography
References
- ↑ France-Presse, Agence (21 April 2007). "Jean-Pierre Cassel, 74, Actor Who Starred in '60s French Comedies, Dies". The New York Times.
- ↑ Secher, Benjamin (28 July 2009). "Vincent Cassel interview for Mesrine". The Daily Telegraph. London.
- 1 2 3 4 "Vincent Cassel". Oh No They Didn't!. 28 July 2009. Archived from the original on 13 August 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
- ↑ Annabel Rivkin (20 April 2009). "French Fancy: Cécile Cassel". ES Magazine. Archived from the original on 14 January 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
- ↑ "Vincent Cassel - Awards". IMDb. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
- ↑ Palmer, Tim (2011). Brutal Intimacy: Analyzing Contemporary French Cinema, Wesleyan University Press, Middleton CT. ISBN 0-8195-6827-9.
- ↑ Furdyk, Brent (12 March 2017). "2017 Canadian Screen Awards: And The Winners Are…". ET Canada. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
- ↑ "2017 Cesar Awards - Nominees".
- 1 2 3 "Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel To Divorce After 14 Years". The Huffington Post. 26 August 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
- ↑ Stephen M. Silverman (14 September 2004). "Passion Actress Bellucci Has Baby Girl". People. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
- ↑ Peter Mikelbank (24 May 2010). "Monica Bellucci Welcomes Daughter Léonie". People. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
- ↑ "French Model Tina Kunakey Wears Custom Vera Wang at Her Wedding to Actor Vincent Cassel". Vogue. 24 August 2018.
- ↑ Elizabeth Day (4 February 2012). "Vincent Cassel: 'You can't escape from what you are'". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
- ↑ Thelma Adams (13 December 2010). "Vincent Cassel: A Q&A With the Black Swan Star". The Huffington Post. USA. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
- ↑ Frater, Patrick (4 December 2017). "Vincent Cassel Joins Top Korean Cast in 'Sovereign Default'". Variety. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vincent Cassel. |
- Vincent Cassel's Films at subtitledonline.com
- Vincent Cassel on IMDb
- CNN interview with Vincent Cassel