A Life in Pictures: Vincent Cassel

03 July 09

Watch acclaimed French actor Vincent Cassel talks to BAFTA about his career highlights.

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Watch Vincent Cassel talk about his award-winning acting career – from his breakthrough role in La Haine to portraying France’s public enemy number one in Mesrine.

At an exclusive BAFTA A Life in Pictures event film critic Jason Solomons asks the celebrated French actor about his diverse film roles and his approach to acting.

Illustrated with clips from his major films, Cassel talks about working with David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen on Eastern Promises and the abundance of riches on the set of Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Twelve.

He describes how he decided to shoot explicit scenes with his wife Monica Bellucci for Gaspar Noé's controversial film Irréversible and explains why he was drawn to the role of Jacques Mesrine in director Jean-Francois Richet’s two-part biopic.

More about Vincent Cassel…

Vincent Cassel's breakthrough role came in Mathieu Kassovitz's critically acclaimed film La Haine where he played a troubled youth from the decrepit banlieues of Paris.

Cassel has gone on to star in a wide range of films including the moody L'Appartement, the violent Dobermann, genre-bending Le Pacte des Loups (Brotherhood of the Wolf) and the highly controversial Irréversible with his wife Monica Bellucci.

He has also appeared 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 2008, Cassel starred in Jean-Francois Richet’s two-part biopic about Jacques Mesrine, France's "public enemy number one" in the seventies. For his performance in Mesrine he received the 2009 César award for best actor.

Vincent Cassell on IMDB

A Life in Pictures

The Academy's A Life in Pictures strand of events brings you the very best creative talents in the film industry. From esteemed actors and actresses to multiple award-winning directors and producers, A Life in Pictures explores the great talent advancing the artistic development of film.