Vincent Cassel Biography

Vincent Cassel born in 23 November 1966 is a French actor. Well known in his native France as a leading man, Cassel is usually cast as a villain in American films.

Personal life

Cassel was born Vincent Crochon in Paris, France, to Sabine Litique, a journalist, and French actor Jean-Pierre Cassel (born Jean-Pierre Crochon). He is married to Italian actress Monica Bellucci, with whom he has two daughters, Deva (born on 12 September 2004) and Léonie (born on 21 May 2010). His brother Mathias is a rapper with the group Assassin under the name "Rockin' Squat". His half-sister, Cécile Cassel, is an actress. He has a passion for Capoeira and displayed his talent in the movie Ocean's Twelve. Besides his native French language, Cassel speaks English, Portuguese, and Italian. He learned basic conversational Russian for his role in Eastern Promises.

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.

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). 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, Loreal signed Cassel 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.

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.