"I first decided to become an actor at school. A teacher gave us a play to do and that had a major impact. At first, I wanted to work in the theatre, but there was something about the ambience of film, especially American films, that always attracted me."
Need a badass with a deep voice and an authentic French accent? Call for Jean Reno!
Appearing as "that French tough guy" in many films, Juan Moreno y Herrera-Jiménez (born 30 July 1948) was born in Morocco, when it was a Spanish protectorate, and moved to France when he was seventeen. So the fact that his name is Juan (in French, Jean) Moreno (cut the first syllable and you have his artistic name) Herrera-Jimenez can make him a sort of Badass Spaniard. Of course, he can also play other nationalities in a pinch, including a damn good Elvis Presley impersonation.
Also, he was Doraemon!!! No, seriously. See for yourself
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Partial filmography:
- The Big Blue as Enzo Molinari
- Nikita as Victor "The Cleaner"
- Operation Corned Beef as Capitaine Philippe Boulier, aka "le Squale"
- Les Visiteurs and its sequels as Godefroy de Montmirail "le Hardi"
- The Professional as Léon
- French Kiss as Jean-Paul — the film played with his "tough guy" screen persona. While he certainly was a no-nonsense cop in the film, his character was also an idealistic father who was also a romantic Frenchman.
- Mission: Impossible as Franz Krieger
- Le Jaguar as Jean Campana
- Ronin as Vincent
- Godzilla as Philippe Roche
- The Crimson Rivers and its sequel Angels of the Apocalypse as Detective Superintendent Pierre Niemans
- Just Visiting (remake of Les Visiteurs) as Thibault de Malfète
- Wasabi as Hubert Fiorentini
- Onimusha 3: Demon Siege (Video game) as Jacques Blanc
- The Da Vinci Code as Commissionner Bézu Fache
- The Corsican Investigation as Ange Leoni
- The Pink Panther as Gilbert Ponton
- Flushed Away as Le Frog
- Jo (TV series) as Joachim "Jo" Saint-Clair
- The Last Face
- Hotel Rwanda as Mr. Tillens
He also provided the French dubbing of:
- The title character in Porco Rosso
- Shadow in Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey
- Mufasa in The Lion King
- Vincenzo "Vinny" Santorini in Atlantis: The Lost Empire
- Le Frog in Flushed Away
Tropes in his works:
- Those Two Actors: He has been famously paired with fellow French actor Christian Clavier in comedy films since Operation Corned Beef and Les Visiteurs. He also voiced Shadow in the French dub Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, while Clavier voiced Chance.
