Juan Moreno y Herrera-Jiménez[1] (born 30 July 1948), known as
Jean Reno (
French: [ʒɑ̃ ʁeno]),
is a French actor of Spanish descent. He has worked in French, English,
Japanese, Spanish, and Italian productions, and appeared in films such
as
Crimson Rivers,
Godzilla,
The Da Vinci Code,
Mission: Impossible,
The Pink Panther,
Ronin,
Les visiteurs,
The Big Blue,
Hector and the Search for Happiness and
Léon: The Professional.
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
(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. 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.
