Vincent Cassel

Vincent Cassel (French pronunciation: [vɛ̃sɑ̃ kasɛl]; born Vincent Crochon, 23 November 1966) is a French actor. He first achieved recognition for his performance as a troubled French Jewish youth, in Mathieu Kassovitz's 1995 film La Haine (Hate), for which he received two César Award nominations. He garnered wide recognition with English-speaking audiences for his performances in Ocean's Twelve (2004) and Ocean's Thirteen (2007), as well as Eastern Promises (2007), Black Swan (2010), and Jason Bourne (2016). Cassel is also renowned for playing the infamous French bank-robber Jacques Mesrine in Mesrine: Killer Instinct and Mesrine: Public Enemy Number One (both in 2008). In 2020, he portrayed Engerraund Serac in the HBO television series Westworld.

Vincent Cassel
Cassel in 2011
Born	Vincent Crochon 23 November 1966 Paris, France
Citizenship	French Brazilian (until 2018)[1]
Occupation	Actor director
Years active	1987–present
Spouse(s)	Monica Bellucci ​ ​ (m. 1999; div. 2013)​ Tina Kunakey ​ ​ (m. 2018)​
Children	3
Parent(s)	Jean-Pierre Cassel Sabine Litique
Relatives	Mathias Crochon (brother) Cécile Cassel (half-sister)

Throughout his career, which spans more than three decades, Cassel has earned critical acclaim and numerous accolades, including a César Award in 2009 and a Canadian Screen Award in 2016.

Early life and family

Cassel was born in Paris, France, to journalist Sabine Litique and actor Jean-Pierre Cassel (born Jean-Pierre Crochon).[2][3] Cassel's brother, Mathias, is a rapper with the group Assassin under the name "Rockin' Squat".[4] His half-sister, Cécile Cassel, is an actress.[5]

Career

Early work in France (1990s)

One of Cassel's first on screen appearances was a bit part in a 1994 Renault Clio advert which was used in the UK.[4]

Cassel's breakthrough role was in Mathieu Kassovitz's critically acclaimed film La Haine (1995), in which he portrayed a troubled youth living in 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.[6]

Throughout the 1990s and the early 2000s, Cassel performed in a string of French films. In 1996, he starred opposite Monica Bellucci (before they married) in the moody French film L'Appartement.[4] The film was a critical success, winning a BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language and the first British Independent Film Award for the Best Film in a Foreign Language. The film was also a modest hit in France gaining 55,565 admissions its opening weekend and 152,714 admissions total.[7] Although the film was never released theatrically in the United States, it was released on DVD on August 22, 2006.

In 1998, he portrayed Henry, Duc d'Anjou in Elizabeth. In 1999, he portrayed Gilles de Rais in Luc Besson's The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc. Other notable roles during this period of his career include 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).

Cassel at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival

Transition into English films (2000s)

Since the early 2000s, Cassel has also appeared in a number of English-language films, such as Shrek (as the voice of Monsieur Hood) and Birthday Girl (both 2001) Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen (2004, 2007), and Derailed (2005). He has also dubbed the voice of Diego (Denis Leary) in the Ice Age franchise and Rodney Copperbottom (Ewan McGregor) in Robots.

In 2007, Cassel attracted significant critical acclaim for his performance in David Cronenberg's thriller film Eastern Promises, in which he starred opposite Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts. The film premiered September 8, 2007 at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival where it won the Audience Prize for best film on September 15, 2007.[8] Film Journal International critic Doris Toumarkine dubbed Cassel's performance "particularly delicious".[9] J. Hoberman of The Village Voice wrote that "Cassel literally flings himself into [his role]".[10]

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 2009. Cassel appeared in a two-part film about Jacques Mesrine, who was France's "public enemy number one" in the seventies.[4] He won the César Award for Best Actor for his performance as Mesrine. Also that year, he starred in the Portuguese-language, Brazilian film Adrift (À Deriva), and made his debut as a singer on Zap Mama's album ReCreation, singing alongside them on the singles "Paroles, Paroles" and "Non, Non, Non".

Later work (2010s)

Cassel at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival

The following year, in 2010, Cassel played Thomas Leroy in Darren Aronofsky's critically acclaimed Black Swan (2010), alongside Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis, which attracted considerable acclaim. For his performance in Black Swan, was nominated alongside his cast for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

In 2011, Cassel played the lead role in the French-Spanish thriller-drama film The Monk, directed by Dominik Moll. Screen Daily praised his performance, writing that "Cassel exudes otherworldly gravitas and his singular looks are perfect for the role."[11] That year, he also starred in the German-Canadian historical film A Dangerous Method, directed by David Cronenberg; in the latter, he starred opposite Keira Knightley, Michael Fassbender, and Mortensen (marking their second film together). The film premiered at the 68th Venice Film Festival and was also featured at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.[12][13]

In 2014, he portrayed The Beast opposite Léa Seydoux as Belle in the French-language adaptation of Beauty and the Beast. The film was screened out of competition at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival.[14] It was released in France on in February 2014 to positive reviews, becoming a box office success. In Japan, the film topped the box office on its release, making it the first non-English-language foreign film to top the Japanese box office since Red Cliff II in 2009, and the first French film to top the Japanese box office since Mathieu Kassovitz's The Crimson Rivers in 2001.[15]

In 2016, Cassel was featured in American action thriller film Jason Bourne, directed by Paul Greengrass; the film is the fifth installment of the Bourne film series and a direct sequel to The Bourne Ultimatum (2007). Despite mixed reviews, the film was a box office success, grossing more than $400 million worldwide.[16] That year, he also attracted critical acclaim for his performance as Antoine 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 Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Actor;[17] he also received nominations for the César Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Globes de Cristal Award for Best Actor, and the Jury Prize for Best Actor at the Riviera International Film Festival.[18]

In 2020, he portrayed trillionaire Engerraund Serac, the main antagonist of the third season of the HBO series Westworld.

Personal life

Cassel met Italian actress Monica Bellucci on the set of their 1996 film The Apartment.[19] They married in 1999,[19] and have two daughters, Deva (born 12 September 2004)[20] and Léonie (born 21 May 2010).[21] Cassel and Bellucci announced their divorce on 26 August 2013.[19]

He married French model Tina Kunakey, who is more than 30 years his junior, on 24 August 2018 in Bidart, France.[22] They have a daughter, Amazonie (born 19 April 2019).[23]

Besides his native French, Cassel speaks English, Portuguese, Italian, and basic conversational Russian, which he learned for his role in Eastern Promises.[24] Cassel lived in Rio de Janeiro for five years, before moving back to Paris in 2018, and he used to have Brazilian citizenship.[25][1] Cassel 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.[26] He also trains in Wing Chun.

Filmography

Live-action

Year	Title	Role	Language	Notes
1993	Métisse	Max	French
1995	Adultery: A User's Guide	Bruno Corteggiani	French
	La Haine	Vinz	French	Nominated – César Award for Best Actor Nominated – César Award for Most Promising Actor
	Jefferson in Paris	Camille Desmoulins	English
1996	L'élève	Julien	French
	The Apartment	Max	French
1997	Dobermann	Yann le Pentrec (Dobermann)	French
	Come mi vuoi	Pasquale	Italian
1998	Elizabeth	Duc d'Anjou	English
1999	Unruly	Pitou	French
	The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc	Gilles de Rais	English
	Guest House Paradiso	Gino Bolognese	English
2000	The Crimson Rivers	Max Kerkerian	French
2001	Brotherhood of the Wolf	Jean-François de Morangias	French
	Birthday Girl	Alexei	English
	Read My Lips	Paul	French	Nominated – César Award for Best Actor
2002	Irréversible	Marcus	French	Also co-producer
2003	The Reckoning	Lord De Guise	English
2004	Blueberry	Mike S. Blueberry	English
	Secret Agents	Brisseau	French
	Ocean's Twelve	François Toulour	English
2005	Derailed	LaRoche	English
2006	Sheitan	Joseph	French	Also producer
2007	Ocean's Thirteen	François Toulour	English
	Eastern Promises	Kirill	English
	His Majesty Minor	Satyre	French
2008	Mesrine	Jacques Mesrine	French	César Award for Best Actor Lumières Award for Best Actor Globes de Cristal Award for Best Actor Étoiles d'Or Award for Best Actor Tokyo International Film Festival Award for Best Actor
2009	Adrift	Matias	Portuguese
2010	Our Day Will Come	Patrick	French	Also producer
	Black Swan	Thomas Leroy	English	Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2011	The Monk	Capucino Ambrosio	French
	A Dangerous Method	Otto Gross	English
2013	Trance	Franck	English
2014	Rio, I Love You	Zé	Portuguese
	Beauty and the Beast	Beast/Prince	French
2015	Child 44	Major Kuzmin	English
	Partisan	Gregori	English
	Tale of Tales	King of Strongcliff	English
	My King	Georgio	French	Nominated – César Award for Best Actor
	One Wild Moment	Laurent	French
	Violence en réunion	Vince	French	Short film
2016	It's Only the End of the World	Antoine	French	Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated – César Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated – Globes de Cristal Award for Best Actor Nominated – Jury Prize for Best Actor – Riviera International Film Festival
	Jason Bourne	Asset	English
2017	O Filme da Minha Vida	Nicolas Terranova	Portuguese
	Gauguin - Voyage de Tahiti	Paul Gauguin	French
2018	The World Is Yours	Henri	French
	Black Tide	François Visconti	French
	The Great Mystical Circus	Jean-Paul	Portuguese
	The Emperor of Paris	Eugène François Vidocq	French
	Default[27]	Managing Director of the IMF	Korean
	Porta dos Fundos[28]	James Bond	Portuguese	Episode: "007 in Brazil"
2019	The Specials	Bruno	French	Nominated – César Award for Best Actor
2020	Underwater	Captain Lucien	English
	Westworld	Engerraund Serac	English	TV series

Animated

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Shrek	Monsieur Hood	Original English-language version
2002	Ice Age	Diego	French-language version
2005	Robots	Rodney Copperbottom	French-language version
2006	Ice Age: The Meltdown	Diego	French-language version
2009	Lascars	Tony Merguez	Original French-language version
	Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs	Diego	French-language version
2012	Ice Age: Continental Drift	Diego	French-language version
2015	The Little Prince	The Fox	French-language version
2016	Ice Age: Collision Course	Diego	French-language version

References

1. Upton, George (25 October 2018). "Vincent Cassel". PORT Magazine. Archived from the original on 11 May 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2020. Vincent Cassel, bearded and barefoot, is at home in these conditions – until recently he lived in Rio de Janeiro", "After five years in Brazil, Cassel is moving back to Paris to be closer to his children, Deva, 13, and Léonie, 8, where they live with their mother – he and Bellucci separated in 2013. Cassel had to renounce his Brazilian citizenship: “I’ve become French again, does it show?”
2. France-Presse, Agence (21 April 2007). "Jean-Pierre Cassel, 74, Actor Who Starred in '60s French Comedies, Dies". The New York Times.
3. Secher, Benjamin (28 July 2009). "Vincent Cassel interview for Mesrine". The Daily Telegraph. London.
4. "Vincent Cassel". Oh No They Didn't!. 28 July 2009. Archived from the original on 13 August 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
5. Annabel Rivkin (20 April 2009). "French Fancy: Cécile Cassel". ES Magazine. Archived from the original on 14 January 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
6. "Vincent Cassel - Awards". IMDb. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
7. http://www.jpbox-office.com/fichfilm.php?id=3787
8. Tamsen Tillson (16 September 2007). "'Promises' wins best film in Toronto". Variety. Retrieved 17 September 2007.
9. Doris Toumarkine. "EASTERN PROMISES". Film Journal International. Retrieved 14 September 2007.
10. J. Hoberman (11 September 2007). "Still Cronenberg". Village Voice. Retrieved 14 September 2007.
11. "The Monk". Screen. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
12. "TIFF 2011: U2, Brad Pitt, George Clooney Films Featured At 2011 Toronto International Film Festival". The Huffington Post. 26 July 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
13. Evans, Ian (2011), "A Dangerous Method TIFF premiere photos", DigitalHit.com, retrieved 12 March 2012
14. "Berlinale 2014: Competition Complete". berlinale. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
15. Kevin Ma (12 November 2014). "Beauty and the Beast, Twilight top Japan B.O." Film Business Asia. Archived from the original on 12 November 2014. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
16. D'Alessandro, Anthony (7 October 2016). "'Jason Bourne' Seizes $400M Worldwide; Int'l Take Sets Franchise Record". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
17. Furdyk, Brent (12 March 2017). "2017 Canadian Screen Awards: And The Winners Are…". ET Canada. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
18. "2017 Cesar Awards - Nominees".
19. "Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel To Divorce After 14 Years". The Huffington Post. 26 August 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
20. Stephen M. Silverman (14 September 2004). "Passion Actress Bellucci Has Baby Girl". People. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
21. Peter Mikelbank (24 May 2010). "Monica Bellucci Welcomes Daughter Léonie". People. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
22. "French Model Tina Kunakey Wears Custom Vera Wang at Her Wedding to Actor Vincent Cassel". Vogue. 24 August 2018.
23. Mikelbank, Peter (19 April 2019). "Vincent Cassel Is a Dad Again! Actor and Wife Tina Kunakey Welcome Daughter Amazonie". People.
24. Elizabeth Day (4 February 2012). "Vincent Cassel: 'You can't escape from what you are'". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
25. Schneller, Johanna (5 April 2013). "Vincent Cassel: a movie star who makes Hollywood look boring". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2020. Cassel is taking another break from France – he and his family recently moved to Rio de Janeiro.
26. Thelma Adams (13 December 2010). "Vincent Cassel: A Q&A With the Black Swan Star". The Huffington Post. USA. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
27. Frater, Patrick (4 December 2017). "Vincent Cassel Joins Top Korean Cast in 'Sovereign Default'". Variety. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
28. "Tem francês no Porta dos Fundos: Vincent Cassel grava com humoristas - Telepadi". telepadi.folha.uol.com.br (in Portuguese). 13 April 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2019.

External links

• Vincent Cassel's Films at subtitledonline.com
• Vincent Cassel at IMDb
• CNN interview with Vincent Cassel