Vincent Cassel
Vincent Cassel
Vincent Casselis a French actor best known to English-speaking audiences through his film performances in Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen, as well as Black Swan. Cassel is also renowned for playing the infamous French bank-robber and folk hero Jacques Mesrine in Mesrine: Killer Instinct and Mesrine: Public Enemy Number One...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth23 November 1966
CityParis, France
CountryFrance
If the guy behind the camera is not good, the pictures are bad. It's still you, and it's the same lines and everything, but it doesn't work.
I really enjoy being an actor!
I love French style from the Thirties and Forties. French movie stars like Jean Gabin and Yves Montand had so much natural, effortless style.
I grew up watching 'Raging Bull.
I did direct two short movies. I learned many things, and one of the things I learned was that I am not a director. It has to be visceral, and it's not for me. I feel much more comfortable acting.
I think I'm actually more vulnerable than people imagine.
I used to be more self-conscious about style because when you're younger, you want to exist, you want to show everything you do.
I was thinking of going to London drama schools or to New York, because France didn't accommodate the things I wanted to do in film.
I wear a lot of wigs as Jacques Mesrine. He'd wear multiple wigs and take them off one at a time to rob three banks in one hour.
When you see violence in movies in general, it's very quick and painless, which isn't what it's like.
I have learned that acting is not about beauty.
My father is best known for his light comedies, and Im best known for crazy bad guys with short tempers.
The idea of telling a story in reverse destabilises your ordinary moral reactions. That's one of the points of art - to challenge your preconceptions.
I'm more attracted to the bad guys. Why? Because in real life, I don't know any good guys. I know okay guys. I know polite guys. I know people who can control themselves.