Gérard Depardieu

Birthday: 27 December 1948, Châteauroux, Indre, France

Birth Name: Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu

Height: 180 cm

Gérard Depardieu was born in Châteauroux, Indre, France, to Anne Jeanne Josèphe (Marillier) and René Maxime Lionel Depardieu, who was a metal worker and fireman. Young delinquent and wanderer in the past, Depardieu started his acting career at the small traveling theatre "Cafe de la Gare", along with Patrick Dewaere and Miou-Miou. After minor roles in cinema, at last, he got his chance in Bertrand Blier's Les valseuses (1974). That film established a new type of hero in the French cinema and the actor's popularity grew enormously. Later, he diversified his screen image and became the leading French actor of the 80s and 90s. He was twice awarded a César as Best Actor for Le dernier métro (1980) and Cyrano de Bergerac (1990), also received an Oscar nomination for "Cyrano" and a number of awards at international film festivals. In 1996, he was distinguished by the highest French title of "Chevalier du Légion d'Honneur". He married Elisabeth Depardieu in 1971, and they divorced in 1996; she appeared with him in Jean de Florette (1986) and Manon des sources (1986); their children Guillaume Depardieu and Julie Depardieu are both actors. Show less «

I don't care about Hollywood films. Hollywood films were very good before, in the 1950s. Now you see...Show more »

I don't care about Hollywood films. Hollywood films were very good before, in the 1950s. Now you see the English filmmakers are the best. Ridley Scott who did Gladiator (2000)...American Beauty (1999), the Oscar winner, came from London. Hollywood exists only for the B-movies. The best things are coming from Europe. We have all the talent here but we need American money! Show less «

I want to get more involved with the vineyards I have all over the world and to spend more time with...Show more »

I want to get more involved with the vineyards I have all over the world and to spend more time with the people who work in them. You need to be there to make yourself understood; you can't just tell people what to do from the end of a telephone line. My unrealized ambition is to tend my vines, produce wine and work like an artisan. I dream of rediscovering the old traditions and customs of wine growing, not necessarily to deny the technology which we have today, but to harness it and work in harmony with nature. Show less «

I'm happy with very little on this earth, but I do like to have a lot in my glass. [on his love for ...Show more »

I'm happy with very little on this earth, but I do like to have a lot in my glass. [on his love for wine] Show less «

Authenticity is the ability to listen to what nature tells us. Listening isn't the same thing as nev...Show more »

Authenticity is the ability to listen to what nature tells us. Listening isn't the same thing as never making a mistake, but the important thing is to learn. Show less «

As soon as I had enough money, I bought a plane so I could go wherever I wanted. True luxury is to b...Show more »

As soon as I had enough money, I bought a plane so I could go wherever I wanted. True luxury is to be free. It's not to carry a Vuitton handbag. What would I do with a Vuitton bag? I'd have a crap in it. My freedom has no price. I don't want to be waiting for the person in from of me to move. Luxury is to depend on no one but yourself. Show less «

[on Juliette Binoche] Please can you explain to me what the secret of this actress is meant to be? I...Show more »

[on Juliette Binoche] Please can you explain to me what the secret of this actress is meant to be? I would really like to know why she has been so esteemed for so many years. She has nothing. Absolutely nothing! She is nothing. Compared with her, Isabelle Adjani is great even is she's totally nuts. Or Fanny Ardant - she is magnificent, extremely impressive. But Binoche? What has she ever had going for her? [2010] Show less «

I never really like the characters I play. I only come to love them afterwards.

I had wonderful companions during my life, and afterwards we separated - but not like enemies. We st...Show more »

I had wonderful companions during my life, and afterwards we separated - but not like enemies. We stayed friends. It was always a costly thing to get a divorce, for example, but it's just money. It's not important. I had children with really wonderful women. I still like them. I think we can learn everything from women. And I especially learnt from women who have been my lovers or my mistresses. But I also learnt a lot from female writers, like Virginia Woolf and Anaïs Nin. I prefer them to, say, Hemingway, and I would always prefer them. Although I very much like F. Scott Fitzgerald, I would prefer Colette, for example. Because we can learn from them. Also because these women are born mothers. They live as mothers. And they often wait; they wait for something in their life, especially if they're strong women. And these are the human beings that make me patient, make me want to wait and accept inertia. Show less «

When I'm stressed, I still drink five or six bottles of wine a day. When I'm relaxed, three or four,...Show more »

When I'm stressed, I still drink five or six bottles of wine a day. When I'm relaxed, three or four, but I'm trying to cut down. You think alcohol calms you down, but you become addicted to it. [2005] Show less «

I'm about to stop filming! I'm a guy that is leaving. And for once, I'm not drunk! I've got nothing ...Show more »

I'm about to stop filming! I'm a guy that is leaving. And for once, I'm not drunk! I've got nothing to lose. I did 170 films, and I've got nothing else to prove. I'm not going to keep up like this for ever. I finish in style with film director Thomas Gilou, who has made lots of successes, and has made a really good film with this Michou d'Auber (2007). I retire in style with this film. It's wonderful. Show less «

[on Les amants du Pont-Neuf (1991)] Leos Carax needed six years to shoot his film with Juliette Bino...Show more »

[on Les amants du Pont-Neuf (1991)] Leos Carax needed six years to shoot his film with Juliette Binoche, which turned out to be not even a film but just a piece of shit. Show less «

It's the people you work with that matter. It's not the role. I don't give a shit about the role. I ...Show more »

It's the people you work with that matter. It's not the role. I don't give a shit about the role. I don't have any ambition or career plans. I never have. I'm living in the present. I have no ambition. It's true. But I want to live. I'm curious about people. That's what I've always done since I've been a small boy. I'm curious about others. I do this profession. I'm an actor. And it is, for me, a opportunity to meet people. One of the advantages of my profession is I come into contact with many people. [2011] Show less «

I'm not a monster, I'm just a man who wants to pee.

Cooking is not difficult. Everyone has taste, even if they don't realize it. Even if you're not a gr...Show more »

Cooking is not difficult. Everyone has taste, even if they don't realize it. Even if you're not a great chef, there's nothing to stop you understanding the difference between what tastes good and what doesn't. That's what's so terrible about the industrialization of agriculture and the food chain. There are children growing up today who don't know what a lamb, a pig or a rabbit looks like. Show less «

The relationship between an actor and a director is like a love story between a man and a woman. I'm...Show more »

The relationship between an actor and a director is like a love story between a man and a woman. I'm sure sometimes I'm the woman. Show less «

I'd rather spend my time with grape growers than actors. In the film industry, all the money is focu...Show more »

I'd rather spend my time with grape growers than actors. In the film industry, all the money is focused on television and the stupidity of American cinema. There are fewer and fewer "films d'auteur" made by people like Ken Loach or Claude Chabrol. The cinema is dead; it's finished. Who goes to the movies now? It's children. People who are 30 would rather sit at home in front of the telly. Show less «

Gérard Depardieu

Gérard Depardieu's FILMOGRAPHY

Gérard Depardieu'S roles

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